No one should be looking past the Buffalo Sabres these days. The Boston Bruins did that over the weekend and it cost them two points.
On Tuesday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning did the same thing and history repeated itself with a 5-3 loss.
“We lost the hockey game,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “We lost two in a row within 24 hours. You’re right, we’re not used to it, but if you keep playing this way, things like this are going to happen.”
Sam Reinhart had two goals in win over Tampa Bay Tuesday – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
The Bolts have ruled the roost in the Atlantic Division from the opening of the season but their lead is down to one point.
Sam Reinhart struck for two goals in the Sabres win.
Ryan O’Reilly, Scott Wilson and Nicholas Baptiste scored single markers for Buffalo.
Chad Johnson made 26 saves to pick up the win and was solid in defending two Tampa 5-on-3 advantages.
“Those kinds of moments, the key moments, whether it’s guys blocking shots or killing a 5-on-3, it’s that momentum, it’s that energy we’re gaining from the fans and we’re giving them something to cheer about on our side, so when we do kill it, we turn around and use it as momentum for us. That’s what we did. Guys were really dialed in blocking shots,” Johnson said.
Buffalo is 3-1-0 in their last four games and improved to 17-30-10.
Ryan Callahan, Yanni Gourde and Vladislav Namestnikov scored for the Bolts.
“We’re an honest group in here. We’ve said that all year. We’re honest with each other. We’re honest with our effort, our play. So we’ll look at both these games and correct the things we need to correct and move forward,” Callahan said of the current Lightning skid. “There’s no real time to rest. We’ve got one day here and we’re right back at it (Thursday) against a Detroit (Red Wings) team that always seems to get the best out of us. It’s always an emotional game, so I think that’s going to help us.”
[WATCH: All Lightning vs. Sabres highlights]
Louis Domingue made 28 saves in the loss.
Tampa surrendered two power play goals on three chances.
“Our (penalty) kill gives up one there in the third and it definitely hurts us,” Callahan said. “At the same time, we score in a one-goal game and we don’t have an emotional push after that. No real sustained pressure or opportunities, which is disappointing.”
The Lightning dropped to 38-16-3.
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