The Lightning were able to repeatedly break down Buffalo's team defense and generate dangerous chances from the middle of the ice. The two first period goals from Ondrej Palat and Anthony Cirelli both came off the rush and were scored from the slot on Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen. They could have added to that total, but Luukkonen came up with a number of tough saves, including stops on Pat Maroon, Taylor Raddysh, and, on an in-alone chance, Nikita Kucherov.
As for the Lightning's team defense, the first period was their most loose. They yielded a few chances off the rush, but Andrei Vasilevskiy made saves on Victor Olofsson's partial breakaway and Mark Jankowski's shorthanded breakaway. Victor Hedman also prevented a goal when he blocked an open net chance from Jack Quinn, who was making his NHL debut.
Those isolated Buffalo chances disappeared in the second period. The Sabres recorded just three even strength shots in the middle frame. Their other three second period shots came during three unsuccessful power play opportunities. And in the Buffalo end, the Lightning kept accumulating scoring chances. Malcolm Subban entered the game for an injured Luukkonen to start the second and allowed a goal to Kucherov on a shot from the high slot. Then, Kucherov finished a rush chance at 10:21, one-timing in a pass from Corey Perry to make it 4-0. Under four minutes later, Steven Stamkos cranked a shot from the slot past Subban for the fifth Lightning goal. Still, if not for Subban, the score could have been even more lopsided. He made 13 other saves in the period as the Lightning spent the majority of the five-on-five action working the puck around the offensive zone.
The Sabres did eventually score on their fourth and final power play chance of the game, a tally 5:31 in the third. But the Lightning kept applying pressure and the Sabres were forced to spent most of the rest of the game defending in their own end. Quinn did have one other opportunity - shortly after Kucherov completed his hat trick at 13:57 - but Cal Foote blocked the shot and kept the puck from crossing the goal line.
In the end, this was a lopsided victory, both in terms of the score and how the game unfolded. The Lightning bounced back from Saturday's loss with an outstanding overall performance.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
1. Nikita Kucherov - Lightning. Hat trick.
2. Steven Stamkos - Lightning. Goal and two assists.
3. Anthony Cirelli - Lightning. Goal and assist.
