BUFFALO, N.Y. _ The Lightning started off quickly and then faded. Tampa Bay picked it up again, enough to beat Buffalo, 5-3 on Saturday.
Steven Stamkos came through with the game-winner with 5:16 to play. Nikita Kucherov left a drop pass in the right circle and Stamkos a step behind, sent a wrist shot past goaltender Linus Ullmark.
Brayden Point had started everything off, just 26 seconds into the game. He picked up the puck off an offensive zone faceoff win, slid it over to Nikita Kucherov then followed Kucherov's shot for the rebound.
The Lightning didn't have much going for the rest of the period. While Sam Reinhart and Tage Thompson gave the Sabres' two goals for the lead, Tampa Bay only put another five shots in net in the frame.
Ondrej Palat tied the game back up, 2-2, with the lone goal of the second period. Mikhail Sergachev made a nice assist, pinching down low and feeding the much to the top of the crease, and Palat tipped it in.
Marco Scandella put the Sabres on top, beating Louis Domingue five-hole, early in the third period. But the lead only lasted for 23 seconds. Stamkos picked up a turnover and sent it up to Kucherov, who scored with a wrist shot from the hashmarks. A reversal of the game-winning goal, and at the same spot. Though, Ryan Callahan added one more, a one-timer from the bottom of the circle, for good measure.
