TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Even with a hot start — and a two-goal second-period lead — the Buffalo Sabres lost once again on Thursday night. The Sabres lost their fifth in a row in a 6-5 defeat to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Jake Guentzel had a hat trick and Oliver Bjorkstrand scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period.
Bjorkstrand scored on a wrist shot with 18:20 remaining, assisted by Nikita Kucherov and Yanni Gourde.
Guentzel scored all three of his goals in the second period and has 32 this season. Nicholas Paul and Darren Raddysh also scored for the Lightning.
Alex Tuch, Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, Peyton Krebs and John-Jason Peterka scored for the Sabres.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves for the Lightning. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 20 saves for the Sabres.
Takeaways
Sabres: Buffalo lost its fifth straight.
Lightning: Victor Hedman played only three shifts and less than three minutes before leaving 6:27 into the game with an apparent left leg injury.
Key moment
Guentzel’s third goal made it 5-5 late in the second — about a minute after he scored to get Tampa Bay within one. The hat trick was the ninth of his career, including the playoffs. With his second hat trick this season for the Lightning, Guentzel became the second in franchise history to have more than one in his first season with Tampa Bay. Wendel Clark had three in 1998-99.
Key stat
Tampa Bay improved to 9-1-0 over its last 10 games.
Up next
The Sabres continue their swing through Florida, visiting the Panthers on Saturday, while Tampa Bay hosts Boston.