Sabres defeat Lightning, move back into tie in points for 1st in Atlantic

BUFFALO -- Jason Zucker had a goal and an assist for the Buffalo Sabres, who gained ground in the Atlantic Division by defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 at KeyBank Center on Monday.

The Sabres and Lightning are tied for first in the division with 102 points each, two points ahead of the Montreal Canadiens. Tampa Bay has played one fewer game than Buffalo and also holds the tiebreaker.

“This was a big game for us,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. “This was a big test for us tonight because we knew how big this game was. We knew it was against the team that was sitting there just ahead of us. We didn’t play well in the previous two games (against the Ottawa Senators and Washington Capitals), and good teams know how to have some pushback. And I thought our guys had great pushback.”

Alex Tuch and Josh Norris scored, and Bowen Byram had two assists for the Sabres (47-23-8), who had lost two straight (outscored 10-3). Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 23 saves.

“I think it was good for us. We weren’t very happy with our (past two games),” Zucker said. “It was good to get back on it, and obviously to do it in front of our home crowd was a lot of fun.”

Nikita Kucherov scored his 400th NHL goal, Jake Guentzel had a goal and an assist, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves for the Lightning (48-23-6), who had won two in a row and four of five.

“I honestly didn’t love our game tonight,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “It was 2-2 and we were in a pretty good spot and just give up a goal that, again, breakdowns in our defensive zone that shouldn’t happen. We had to chase it in the third. We had a good looks, we did, but we didn’t finish them. It was too little too late. A little bit frustrating, just the way the game went.”

Tuch gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 5:42 of the first period. Fresh out of the penalty box, Tuch received a cross-ice pass from Byram in the neutral zone and skated to the high slot before scoring with a wrist shot that beat Vasilevskiy blocker side inside the left post.

“It’s been a little inconsistent for myself,” said Tuch, who has 30 goals this season. “I had a little minor injury about a month ago that -- it’s a bad excuse -- but I don’t think I was getting back to my game as much as I could have, and I thought tonight was a solid game. I just got to keep skating, that’s a big component of my game. If I can continue to do that, I can be a lot more effective than I have been of late.”

Kucherov tied it 1-1 on a power play at 11:45, burying a one-timer from the right circle off a cross-ice feed from Guentzel.

He is the second player in Lightning history to score 400 goals, joining Steven Stamkos (555).

Norris put the Sabres back in front 2-1 at 14:04. He received a drop pass from Josh Doan in the right circle and put a wrist shot short side on a screened Vasilevskiy.

Guentzel tied it 2-2 at 3:56 of the second period, roofing a shot over Luukkonen's blocker from the high slot after Darren Raddysh kept a clearing attempt in at the right point.

Zucker gave Buffalo its third lead of the game at 7:38. He deflected Byram’s one-timer from the right point over Vasilevskiy’s glove to make it 3-2.

Jack Quinn scored an empty-net goal at 18:06 of the third period for the 4-2 final.

“It was a one-goal game, so anything can happen,” Lightning center Brayden Point said. “I think we did push a little bit. We spent I think more zone time in the third than we did the other two periods, so that's a positive. But again, just not the result we're looking for, but we've got another big game tomorrow (against the Senators), so get ready for that one.”

NOTES: Kucherov is the 16th active player to score 400 goals, and the ninth to reach the mark in fewer than 900 games (874). ... Guentzel has 86 points (37 goals, 49 assists) this season, an NHL career high. ... Lightning forward Pontus Holmberg left the game in the third period after he was hit awkwardly into the boards near the penalty boxes by Sabres forward Peyton Krebs. Cooper said Holmberg is “not good.” ... Lightning center Anthony Cirelli was a late scratch because of an undisclosed injury. ... Buffalo went 3-0-1 against Tampa Bay this season, including winning the final three.