Special teams proved to be the difference in the game for the Sabres, who took a 2-1 lead in the second period on goals from Sam Reinhart and Vesey. Mikhail Sergachev tied the game with a power-play goal later in the period, then Yanni Gourde scored to make it 3-2 just 2:26 later.
The Sabres were scoreless on three power plays in that second period, the first of which could have put them up 3-1. They got another chance when Vesey drew a penalty late in a Tampa Bay power play during the third period, setting up seven seconds of 4-on-4 play before they were awarded the extra man.
Just as the Sabres were beginning that power play, Cedric Paquette scored on a shorthanded breakaway to make it 4-2. Ondrej Palat added another shorthanded goal 49 seconds later.
"There was an opportunity, especially on that first power play, to go up 3-1 and I thought we had three, four grade-A scoring chances there, had the shot clock where we wanted it, had our game going, and couldn't put it away at that point," Krueger said.
"… You can speak about shorthanded goals, but the first one wasn't really. It was a 4-on-4 goal where we just miss our check and let them have an easy goal. But more disappointing is actually that we didn't take the game under our control when we had the opportunity. Again, lots of good things 5-on-5 here today that we're going to build on, but we're not happy with the storyline, four sure."