The Tampa Bay Lightning had not had much success at home against the Buffalo Sabres of late; that changed Saturday night at the St. Pete Times forum, as the Lightning defeated Buffalo 2-1 in a high-intensity game that had a bit of a post-season feel to it.
The first period got off to a hard hitting, quick start, but neither team was able to find the back of the net in the early going. In a scary moment, Nate Thompson sent Tim Connolly into the boards awkwardly, causing Connolly to suffer an apparent broken nose. The period ended with no score.
Into the second, the Lightning would get on the board first when Simon Gagne chipped a puck over Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead. The power play goal at the 12:16 mark was Gagne's third goal of the year. The Lightning would extend the lead at the 18:10 mark of the period when Steven Stamkos finished off a beautiful tic-tac-toe play that included Ryan Malone and Marty St. Louis. For Stamkos, it was his 25th goal of the year to extend the lead to 2-0. Buffalo would get one back right before the end of the third period though when Jason Pominville was able to direct a goalmouth pass from Johan Hect past Mike Smith. For Pominville, it was his 5th goal of the year to get the Sabres back with in a goal.
This article appears in Dec 16-22, 2010.