The road trip begins: Tampa Bay Lightning at Buffalo Sabres game preview

Game Seventy-Seven: Tampa Bay Lightning (48-22-6) at Buffalo Sabres (46-23-8)

Time: 7:00 PM EST

Location: KeyBank Center, Buffalo – Home of the largest Dyngus Day celebration in the U.S.

TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, NHL Network, 102.5 FM, Lightning App

Odds: Lightning

Know the Opponents: Die By The Blade

The top two teams in the Atlantic meet up for a Monday evening showdown that could determine who ends up at the top of the division in two weeks. Heading into the contest, the Lightning currently hold the hammer as they are two points up on the Sabres, and also have the first tie-breaker (regulation wins 39-38) along with the second tie-breaker (44-41). Not only would a regulation win tonight give the Lightning a four-point lead with five games to play (four for Buffalo), it’ll increase those tie-breakers as well.

In order to pull it off, the Lightning have to do a couple of things they haven’t been able to do in the last two outings against Buffalo – play structured hockey and stay out of the penalty box. If a team scores nine goals in two games against an opponent, they should expect at least one win, right? Well, not when they surrendered fourteen. Such is the case with the Lightning as they’ve dropped their last two meetings 6-2 and 8-7 to the Sabres.

Of the two losses, the 6-2 one was the “worst” considering Andrei Vasilevskiy was yanked in the game and Dominic James was hurt. The 8-7 game was off the rails, but was also weird in the sense that the Lightning were overly physical in the game, trying to goad Buffalo into taking bad penalties. The strategy didn’t work, and neither did the Lightning penalty kill as the Sabres racked up four power play goals in the contest.

In order to change their stars tonight, the Lightning have to keep doing what they’ve been doing over the last few outings – lock down their defensive zone. During their home stand they allowed 2.12 GA/60 at 5v5 on 21.34 SCA/60 and 8.47 HDCA/60. Only the Vegas Golden Knights allowed fewer chances during that stretch of play. The Bolts have gotten back to protecting the front of their net and it’s kept the puck out of it.

As always, the Sabres will be a challenge for them. Expect a heavy forecheck from the home team, and the Bolts will have to play with controlled pace to break out of the zone. They can’t get into the habit of continuously reversing the puck behind their own net. It’s got to be one or two passes out of the zone, or else Buffalo is going to use their size and quickness to force turnovers and keep the pressure on them.

Both teams will have important pieces on the “game-time decision” board tonight as the Lightning are waiting to see if Brandon Hagel can go while Sam Carrick is dealing with an arm injury and is day-to-day.

Potential Lines

Tampa Bay Lightning

Forwards:

Defense:

Goaltenders:

Buffalo Sabres

Defense:

Goaltenders: