Ben Bishop wins 4-2 in his return to the Lightning net.
TAMPA, FL. — Ben Bishop made 24 saves for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 4-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres at Amalie Arena on Thursday night.
Bishop was making his first start since sustaining a groin injury on Dec. 20.
Ondrej Palat scored twice and had an assist, and Nikita Kucherov and Anton Stralman scored for the Lightning (20-19-4).
Matt Moulson gave the Sabres (16-16-9) a 1-0 early in the first period.
However, a hooking penalty call against Evander Kane a couple of minutes later gave the Lightning a 5-on-3 advantage, which they capitalized to knot the count.
Trailing 3-1, Evander Kane made it 3-2 at 10:30 of the third period when he scored from the hash mark off a cross-ice pass from Jack Eichel after Bishop lost his stick trying to clear the puck out of the crease.
The Lighnting secured the victory with an empty-net goal with 18 seconds remaining.
Making his second consecutive start in goal for Buffalo, Anders Nilsson recorded 25 saves.
Hilton’s Ryan Callahan did not play in the game for Tampa Bay as he sat out with a hip injury.