The Sabres' 10-game streak matched the franchise record set in 1983-84 and matched during the 2006-07 season. They have an opportunity to start another streak tomorrow night against the Florida Panthers.
"It shows us we can win every night we go out there and I think that should be our mindset no matter what," captain Jack Eichel said. "We're going out there to play against the best team in the league at home, whatever it may be. We should expect to win every night we go out on the ice.
"That's kind of the confidence you build through a winning streak like that. We built some camaraderie and some chemistry and I thought, just that never-quit effort. You saw it again tonight. Obviously, we come up short but did a lot of good things."
The 19,092 fans at Amalie Arena were rowdy from start to finish and a mix of "Let's go Buffalo" chants could even be heard as the game progressed.
"You could say a lot about our group and how we've grown. Tonight was no different," alternate captain Kyle Okposo said. "There are some guys that haven't played in games like that and that was as close to a playoff game as you're going to get. I really liked the way that we hung in there and now we just have to make sure that we're moving on to the next game and we come out strong tomorrow."
The atmosphere translated onto the ice where it a chippy, hard-hitting game broke out.
"You could tell on the ice, there was a lot of emotion. It was a tough game. You could tell they wanted it and I thought we answered the call," Eichel said. "But obviously we come up a goal short. It's frustrating. You want to keep winning and it's a little bit of a bummer, but it's a quick turnaround. We're playing another divisional opponent tomorrow and it's a good opportunity for us to go in there and get two points."
The Lightning started the game off strong, outshooting Buffalo 8-0 to start with the eighth shot, off the stick of Dan Girardi, finding the back of the net to open the scoring 2:59 in. The Sabres battled back to take a 2-1 lead thanks to a deflection by Girgensons and Reinhart's first marker. Tampa finished the opening period with a 3-2 lead and a 16-7 edge in shots.
Buffalo went into penalty-kill mode in the second while shorthanded in the personnel department on the bench. With Nathan Beaulieu already in the box for a 10-minute misconduct, the Sabres also lost the services of Jake McCabe early in the period due to injury. Coach Phil Housley said he'd have an update on McCabe's status Friday.
With a nearly all-hands on deck approach, the Sabres successfully killed off a four-minute double minor midway through the period and held the Lightning's power play, one of the deadliest in the NHL, to one goal on five opportunities.
Reinhart tied the game again, redirecting the puck off his skate 5:39 into the second and Thompson gave them the lead 2:29 into the third.
