"If you're getting shut out two nights in a row, you're not going to win, you're leaving your goaltenders hanging out to dry; they're playing great," Buffalo forward Evander Kane said. "You [have] to give them some run support, you [have] to find a way to score goals."
Buffalo has lost nine of its past 10 games.
"I have to look at where we're at in the standings and where the other team is at," Sabres coach Phil Housley said. "I feel we need to play with more desperation from the start of the game. … We have to [have] some attitude when we start the game. This is our home rink. We've got to get out and establish a forecheck, show more emotion on the ice."
Sergachev gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 16:29 of the first period with a power-play goal. The defenseman received a pass from Tyler Johnson and his shot from the high slot deflected off the stick of Sabres forward Johan Larsson and into the net.
"That's one thing he can do; he can shoot a puck," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "At his young age (19), to have those offensive gifts that he has, he's got a high ceiling when it comes to that. Put a puck in his wheelhouse and he can shoot it and that's what he did tonight."