The Bolts maintained a lead throughout and although a late push by Buffalo, they were able to come out victorious against the Sabres winning 3-1 on Saturday afternoon.
Jonas Johansson got his first start since December 31st and was solid for all 60 minutes saving 27 out of 28 shots faced.
Tyler Motte recorded his fourth goal of the year and notched the Bolts second shorthanded goal.
The Lightning get right back to work tomorrow with a 7 p.m. ET matchup against the Detroit Red Wings.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
TBL 1, BUF 0
6:14 Nick Paul (12) – Brandon Hagel, Anthony Cirelli
The Bolts struck first after keeping the puck alive with some good forecheck. Anthony Cirelli stole the puck from Casey Mittelstadt in the offensive zone and played it back to Brandon Hagel. Hagel dished the puck to Nick Paul at the right point and his one-timer beat Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen on their first shot of the day.
TBL 2, BUF 0
7:06 Tyler Motte (4) – Unassisted – Shorthanded
After a cross-checking call on Darren Raddysh, the Sabres headed to the one-man advantage. Just 30 seconds into the penalty kill, Alex Tuch turned over the puck at the blue line where Tyler Motte grabbed the loose puck and skated the length of the ice to score shorthanded.
2nd Period
TBL 2, BUF 1
13:52 Dylan Cozens (8) – JJ Peterka, Rasmus Dahlin
Rasmus Dahlin look a shot from the blue line and forced a save from Jonas Johansson. The rebound came loose for JJ Peterka behind the net and his backhand found Dylan Cozens in open ice in front of the crease and beat Johansson far side.
3rd Period
TBL 3, BUF 1
18:44 Calvin de Haan (3) – Brandon Hagel, Nick Paul
Buffalo pulled Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen with 1:30 remaining in the third period for the extra-attacker. Brandon Hagel’s rink-long attempt went just wide of the net, but Calvin de Haan gathered the rebound from the neutral zone and his shot hit the back of empty net.
