Tampa Bay turns back Buffalo, 4-1.
From sabres.com
BUFFALO — Ben Bishop made 32 saves and Alex Killorn had a goal and an assist to help the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 4-1 win against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Thursday.
Killorn gave the Lightning a 2-0 lead with a power-play goal 7:39 into the second period. Killorn received a backhand pass from Valtteri Filppula as he skated to the net and took a wrist shot that beat Sabres goalie Robin Lehner high for his seventh goal of the season.
Killorn also got an assist on Nikita Kucherov’s ninth goal of the season with 18 seconds left in the second period. Kucherov received a pass from Killorn in the slot and took a wrist shot that deflected off the stick of Sabres forward Nicholas Baptiste and past Lehner for his fourth goal in the past three games.
Lightning rookie forward Brayden Point made it 4-1 with a power-play goal with 2:00 left in the third period.
The Lightning (11-6-1) have won three straight games. The Sabres (5-8-4) have lost three straight in regulation and are winless in the past six games (0-4-2).
Nikita Nesterov gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead 8:15 into the first period. Nesterov skated in from the blue line, received a pass from Filppula and put a shot past Lehner.
Jonathan Drouin had an assist on Nesterov’s goal. He returned to the Lightning lineup after missing the past seven games with an upper-body injury. Drouin replaced Steven Stamkos in the lineup after the Tampa Bay captain underwent surgery Thursday to repair a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee. He’s expected to miss four months.
Sabres defenseman Cody Franson scored his first goal of the season with 7:10 left in the second period on the power play. Franson’s goal was the first by a Sabres defenseman this season.
Greece natives Ryan Callahan of Tampa Bay and Brian Gionta of Buffalo were both held off the scoresheet.