Buffalo Sabres at Tampa Bay Lightning: GAME 62
Time: 7:30 pm Eastern Time
Location: Amalie Arena
Broadcast/Streaming: SUN, MSG-B
Opponent SBNation Site: Die By The Blade
Preview:
There are 20 games left this season for the Tampa Bay Lightning, who are on a seven game win streak and 13 points up on the second place team in the NHL. The Buffalo Sabres, on the other hand, are on a three game losing streak and six points out of the last wildcard spot in the East.
Things are going very well for the Lightning. They’re getting scoring from every part of their lineup. Their goaltending is good and consistent. Nikita Kucherov is one point away from 100 on the season (and if Brayden Point hadn’t missed the last game, maybe he’d have gotten it). Their special teams are at the top of the league.
Point did not play the game against Philadelphia after he missed a team meeting, but he’s expected to return tonight. The Bolts recalled Mathieu Joseph and sent Jan Rutta down, a sign that Victor Hedman is ready to return from an injury.
Things are not going very well for the Sabres. They’ve had pretty substantial lapses in defensive coverage and constant turnovers. They don’t put enough shots on goal, and are outshot most nights. They are really only getting scoring from their top line (led by leading goal scorer Jeff Skinner), and their powerplay has really struggled lately. Buffalo came undone in the third period against Florida on Tuesday, where the Panthers scored four straight goals on route to an easy win.
This game could go two ways. Either the Sabres get the win that they’re desperately due for thanks to a goalie standing on his head and their top line driving the offense, or the Lightning will walk all over them because everything has seemingly clicked for them.
This is the fourth and final meeting between Tampa Bay and Buffalo this season. The Lightning lead the season series 2-1. Their one loss came at the beginning of the season when their big name scorers were held off the scoresheet (Anthony Cirelli had the only goal). Buffalo will have to do just that if they want to walk out of Florida with two points.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Forwards
Tyler Johnson – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov
Ondrej Palat – Steven Stamkos – J.T. Miller
Alex Killorn – Anthony Cirelli – Yanni Gourde
Adam Erne – Cedric Paquette – Mathieu Joseph
Scratched: Ryan Callahan, Danick Martel
Defense
Victor Hedman – Anton Stralman
Ryan McDonagh – Erik Cernak
Braydon Coburn – Mikhail Sergachev
Scratched: Dan Girardi
Goalies
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Louis Domingue
Buffalo Sabres
Forwards
Jeff Skinner – Jack Eichel – Evan Rodrigues
Conor Sheary – Casey Mittelstadt – Sam Reinhart
Zemgus Girgensons – Johan Larsson – Jason Pominville
C.J. Smith – Vladimir Sobotka – Tage Thompson
Injured: Kyle Okposo
Defense
Jake McCabe – Rasmus Ristolainen
Rasmus Dahlin – Zach Bogosian
Nathan Beaulieu – Casey Nelson
Scratched: Lawrence Pilut
Injured: Matt Hunwick, Marco Scandella
Goalies
Carter Hutton
Linus Ullmark
