Nikita Kucherov’s shootout goal sealed a needed two points for the Tampa Bay Lightning as the Bolts beat the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 in a shootout Saturday night in Buffalo. With the win, the Bolts now find themselves three points out of the final wild card playoff spot, currently held by the New York Islanders.
Things didn’t get started on the scoreboard till the first penalty of the game was called with just :20 seconds left in the very first period. Nikita Kucherov was called for a hooking penalty which resulted in the first score of the game just :10 seconds later as Ryan O’Reilly’s one timer blast pass Andrei Vasilevskiy put Buffalo on the board 1-0 with just :12 seconds to play in the first period.
The Bolts went into the intermission with their heads down, but came out firing in the second period as Tyler Johnson tied the game on a nice feed from Victor Hedman to tie the game at one a piece. With the assist, Victor Hedman set a new personal record for assists in a season with 43.
The game would head into overtime as a scoreless third period forced the game were the Bolts earned a much needed point. The Lightning were outshot 30-27 through regulation.
Each team would have a man advantage in the extra frame, but neither capitalized in the extra frame as things went to a shootout.
Bryaden Point and Nikita Kucherov each scored on the Bolts first two chances as Vasilevskiy had saves on the first two chances by the Sabres, and the Bolts get a much needed two points with a win over the Sabres.
Vasilevskiy finished with 31 saves on 32 shots on goal.
The Lightning will return home on Monday night as they host the New York Rangers. You can catch all the action on 970WFLA beginning at 7pm with the pregame, and a 7:30pm faceoff.
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