by : Jay Recher
@jayRecher
It wasn't the season-ending win they envisioned when the season began, but the Lightning sent their fans home happy with a 4-2 victory over the visiting Buffalo Sabres on Sunday night at Amalie Arena.
The score was knotted at two with 1:24 left in regulation when Brayden Point got a little lucky to give the Bolts the lead for good.
Coming down the right wing, Point threw a shot in front that ricocheted off of Buffalo defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen and past goalie Linus Ullmark to put the Lightning up 3-2 and send the crowd into a frenzy.
That was the Tampa Bay rookie center's second goal of the night, his first came off a deflection of a Victor Hedman pass with just under six minutes gone by in the 2nd period to tie the score at one.
The Sabres jumped out to a lead in the first, when William Carrier snapped a shot over the shoulder of Andrei Vasilevskiy to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage.
After Point's first tally tied the score in the middle frame, Braydon Coburn scored a shorthanded goal on a pretty feed by Vladislav Namestnikov to give the Bolts a 2-1 lead heading into the third.
Buffalo was putting the heat on the Lightning to try and tie it up in the final stanza and finally cashed in when Evander Kane scored at 11:17, but the fans were assured of a happy send-off when Point scored his second of the night at 18:36.
For good measure, Victor Hedman fired one into the empty net with just one second left on the clock to put an exclamation point on the game and another fine season for the Swedish defenseman. That goal put Hedman at 72 points on the year, sole possession of 2nd place in scoring for defenseman in the NHL.
Vasilevskiy wasn't tested much until the third and ended up stopping 26 of 28 shots.
Ullmark made some unbelievable saves, a few on Jonathan Drouin, and ended up 33 saves on the night.
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST PERIOD
1. Buffalo - Carrier - (Nylander, Bogosian) - 13:56
2ND PERIOD
1. Tampa Bay - Point - (Hedman, Dotchin) - 5:59
2. Tampa Bay - SHG - Coburn - (Namestnikov, Killorn) - 12:20
3RD PERIOD
1. Buffalo - Kane - (Gionta, O'Reilly) - 11:17
2. Tampa Bay - Point (2) - (Kucherov, Stralman) - 18:36
3. Tampa Bay - Hedman - (Stralman, Point) - 19:59
PENALTY SUMMARY
1ST PERIOD
NONE
2ND PERIOD
1. Buffalo - Eichel - (Slashing) - 7:12
2. Tampa Bay - Brown - (High Sticking) - 10:26
3. Buffalo - Girgensons - (Slashing) - 12:45
4. Buffalo - Carrier - (Boarding) - 14:58
3RD PERIOD
NONE
SHOTS ON GOAL
Buffalo - 28
Tampa Bay - 37