The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Buffalo Sabres in a 6-1 win on Tuesday night. Nikita Kucherov continued his explosive return with a hat trick. The Bolts continue another strong season with a 24-9-5 record. Meanwhile, the Sabres struggle with a 10-19-6 record.
Game Recap
The game started right away with a Tampa Bay lead. 2:16 into the first, Ondrej Palat scored his 15th of the season to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead. With his 15th goal, Palat is on pace to break his single-season goal record. Roughly eight and a half minutes later, Anthony Cirelli added another Tampa goal for a 2-0 lead. Furthermore, to end the period Tampa Bay went on a power play that would carry into the second. The man advantage was the product of a Zemgus Girgensons slashing penalty.
To open the second period, on the same power play that ended the first, Kucherov scored his first of three. The power play goal arrived 27 seconds into the middle frame and provided the Bolts with a 3-0 lead. Just past halfway through the period, Kucherov tallied another for a Tampa Bay 4-0 lead. Four minutes later, Stamkos recorded another goal for number five on the season. Along the way in the second, Perry, Kucherov, and Maroon all found their way into the penalty box. Buffalo could not capitalize on three power plays, while Tampa could not capitalize on one in the second.
The third period’s scoring opened on a seemingly unlikely Buffalo goal given the flow of the game. The goal scorer was Vinnie Hinostroza on the power play. Later in the third, Kucherov completed his hat trick with number three and a 6-1 lead.
Tampa Bay beat Buffalo up and down the ice for a dominant 6-1 win in which they doubled Buffalo’s shots. Kucherov lead the way with a hat trick, while Vasilevskiy stopped 17 out of 18 shots.
Up Next
On Thursday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning return home for a bout with the Vancouver Canucks. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM EST at Amalie Arena.
(Joshua Bessex/AP Photo)