Heading into action Tuesday night in Buffalo, the Tampa Bay Lightning were the picture of consistency. In fact, they’d yet to lose back-to-back games in their first 17 contests this season.
This seemed like the perfect game for the Lightning to bounce back, following a 6-4 loss to Ottawa at home in which they surrendered a two-goal lead in the third period. After all, the Bolts had won seven of their last eight in Buffalo when they traveled to KeyBank Center in Buffalo to take on goaltender Carter Hutton and the new-look Sabres.
Feeling out process
Despite the fact that they’re Atlantic Division foes, this was the first meeting between the Sabres and the Bolts this season. In fact, tonight marked their first meeting since April 6, 2018, a 7-5 Lightning win at Amalie Arena. It came as no surprise to see the teams play some high-pace hockey due to the skill level both teams possess.
Robbed
As the first period went on, the Sabres began to pepper Louis Domingue with some quality chances. Domingue was up to the challenge however. He stopped ten Buffalo shots in the frame, including one highlight-reel stop on Jeff Skinner, who had snuck in behind the Lightning defense. Despite a great look, the Lightning net-minder robbed him with the glove.
Skinner’s revenge
Just moments later, Skinner got Domingue back where it hurts most: the scoreboard. Finding a loose puck in the slot, he buried it behind Domingue with 2:15 left in the period, giving the Sabres a 1-0 lead at the first intermission.
Slow starts continue to plague the Bolts
Skinner’s goal marked the eighth time in nine games the Lightning surrendered the first goal. So Head Coach Jon Cooper couldn’t have been happy to see an equally uninspiring start to the middle frame by his team. This time around, it took just 5:43 for Kyle Okposo to extend the Sabres’ lead to 2-0. Okposo took a feed from Conor Sheary, who was speeding into the Lightning end, strode across the blue-line, and rifled it home.
Lightning respond quickly
The Bolts made sure Buffalo’s two goal-lead was short-lived. It took just 15 seconds for Anthony Cirelli to strike back, after corralling an Erik Karlsson-like Hail Mary pass from Alex Killorn, who lofted it from his own end of the ice. This goal was huge for the Lightning, as they continued to carry play in the opening moments of the period. Only the quality work of Hutton kept the Lightning off the board to that point.
Just warming up
As it would turn out, Hutton was only getting started on what would be a goaltending clinic to finish the middle stanza. The Lightning, though unsuccessful on their only power play, truly dominated this period. The second period has been the Bolts’ strength all season, so it was promising to see that continue tonight. Nonetheless, they trailed heading into the third, despite throwing a whopping 14 shots at Hutton in the period. The Sabres mustered only two.
Picking up where they left off
To start the third, it was more of the same for the Lightning. They did everything they could to tie up the game in the early moments, but couldn’t put one past the red hot Sabres goalie. Brayden Point created two quality chances of his own, before Hutton made back-to-back glove larcenies on Mathieu Joseph and Killorn. Just moments later, Cedric Paquette had an open side of the cage, but narrowly missed the target on an attempted forehand backhand. The puck bounced harmlessly off the outside of the net to the corner.
Gotta be good to be lucky, and lucky to be good
The final minute may have been the most frustrating of the Lightning season so far. As Domingue arrived at the Bolts’ bench and the clock showed one minute remaining, Nikita Kucherov had room to walk into one from the right circle. He made no mistake. Unfortunately for Kucherov, the rocket shot clanged off the crossbar and wide.
Déjà vu
Cooper called a timeout with 42.3 seconds to play, and the Bolts made one last frantic push to tie it up. Unbelievably, it was Kucherov again, and it was the post….again. After Steven Stamkos faked a slapshot and fed cross crease to the Russian sniper, he had plenty of net to shoot at, and was beside himself after finding iron again.
Kucherov slammed his stick in frustration as time expired. It just wasn’t the Lightning’s night in a 2-1 defeat.
Carter Hutton ended the game with 29 saves, facing some quality chances.
The Lightning have lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. They’ll have their first chance to bounce back Thursday in Pittsburgh against Sidney Crosby and the Penguins.
Our Three Stars of the Game
1st Star: Carter Hutton – Hutton was miraculous between the pipes tonight. His 29 saves told the story, as he turned aside countless quality chances.
2nd Star: Erik Cernak – Cernak sneakily had a really promising NHL debut. He was in position, moved the puck well, and nearly got on the scoreboard, testing Hutton with a tough backhand after joining the rush.
3rd Star: Louis Domingue – Naturally, Domingue’s performance was overshadowed by the goalie at the other end. Though he only faced 19 shots, Domingue was rock solid when he needed to be, making a few highlight-reel stops in the opening period.
