Lightning wrap up February with important division game: Sabres at Lightning preview

Game Fifty-Eight: Buffalo Sabres (34-19-6) at Tampa Bay Lightning (38-15-4)

Time: 7:00 PM EST

Location: Benchmark International Arena, First event hosted there – Royal Hanneford Circus

TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, MSG-B ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App

Odds: Lightning -238

Know the Opponents: Die By the Blade

Unlike their game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday, the Tampa Bay Lightning are the beneficiaries of the compressed schedule tonight as they take on a Buffalo Sabres squad that played last night in Sunrise. A 3-2 win for the visitors propelled them into second place in the division, and now they’re looking to cut into the Lightning’s six-point advantage over them in the standings. Yeah, we’re in the good part of the season now.

With Alex Lyon in the net against the Panthers, it looks like the Lightning will face Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen tonight. The Finnish netminder is still working his way back from an injury that kept him out of the Olympics and off the ice for a couple of weeks before the break. He stopped 27 of 28 shots in a win against New Jersey on Wednesday in his first action since late January, so the Bolts will have their work cut out for them if they want to get back in the win column.

After a brutal start to the season, the Sabres turned things around in early December and have been on an absolute heater. Since December 9 they are 23-5-2 and their 48 points acquired is the most by any NHL team over that stretch. The offense has been solid (2.88 GF/60) but it’s been their ability to keep the puck out of the net that has helped them move up the standings as they are second in the league at 5v5 with 1.97 GA/60. The only team better than them at goal prevention – the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Tage Thompson has led the way in scoring with 39 points (18 goals, 21 assists) during their winning ways with Rasmus Dahlin providing 28 points (9 goals, 19 assists) from the blue line. Ryan McLeod has provided some surprising depth on the second line with 6 goals and 22 assists while Alex Tuch (13 goals) and Josh Doan (10 goals) have been the ones finding the back of the net.

As for the Lightning, there is a good chance that Anthony Cirelli returns to action after missing the last two games with a shoulder injury. His status will likely be determined in the morning, and if he is ready to go, expect the Bolts to return to their 12/6 rotation after a couple of games with the extra defenseman.

While the Sabres have been keeping the puck out of the net a lot of that has rested on the shoulders of their goaltenders. The Lightning should get some looks as Buffalo is 21st in scoring chances allowed since December 9 and 20th in high-danger chances allowed. The challenge will be in beating Luukkonen who has a 12.65 GSAx over that stretch, which is 9th-best in the league.

The Bolts, who added another power play goal to their tally in the loss to Carolina, should have the special teams advantage as well with the Sabres in the middle of the road when it comes to killing penalties.

While they are still missing Nick Paul, this could be the healthiest Lightning squad that’s taken to the ice over the last couple of months. The next few games should give Julien BriseBois some final pieces of data he needs before pulling the trigger on any trades. Kicking things off with a win over the Sabres would go a long way to keeping the status quo.

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Buffalo Sabres

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