The Buffalo Sabres will complete a back-to-back following a 4-2 road loss at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, and look to close ground in the Eastern Conference standings. The Carolina Hurricanes, five points behind the Philadelphia Flyers for the second wild-card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the conference, lead the Sabres by four points. Carolina and Buffalo each has played 41 games. "We've won some games recently and gathered some points," Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said Thursday. "We had a chance to pass a team [Tampa Bay] in the standings and we missed that opportunity. That's something we're going to have to put behind us pretty immediately and get to the task of playing Carolina." Goaltender Anders Nilsson will make his third staright start. He made 25 saves for Buffalo on Thursday, stepping in for Robin Lehner, who has missed two games with an illness. Defenseman Zack Bogosian will play in his 500th NHL game.