Guentzel scores hat trick, Lightning rally for victory against Sabres
Bjorkstrand breaks tie early in 3rd in debut for Tampa Bay, which has won 10 of 11
Sabres at Lightning | Recap
TAMPA — Jake Guentzel scored a hat trick in the second period, and the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied for a 6-5 win against the Buffalo Sabres at Amalie Arena on Thursday.
Oliver Bjorkstrand broke a tie early in the third period in his debut for the Lightning (37-21-4), who have won 10 of 11. Nikita Kucherov had two assists, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves.
Bjorkstrand gave Tampa Bay a 6-5 lead at 1:40 of the third period, stuffing in a rebound after Kucherov’s initial shot.
“I was just trying to stay around the net, I saw Kucherov had the puck, so I figured something would probably happen,” Bjorkstrand said. “[Yanni Gourde] had a good screen and it just kind of came in front of me. I just tapped it in.
“Any player on a new team…it’s nice to get that first goal, not that you think too much about it. It’s great that we found a way to win.”
BUF@TBL: Bjorkstrand stuffs it past Luukkonen to put the Lighting on top 6-5 in the 3rd
Bjorkstrand and Gourde, who had the primary assist on the go-ahead goal, were acquired by the Lightning from the Seattle Kraken as part of a three-team trade also involving the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday.
“We had a few chances, and I want to be around the paint and help create some stuff,” Gourde said. “I was so excited for Oliver to get that goal.”
Said Lightning coach Jon Cooper: “I thought both guys…they played three time zones away just 48 hours ago and you can make an argument they were two of our best forwards out there.”
Rasmus Dahlin and JJ Peterka each had a goal and an assist for the Sabres (24-31-6), who have lost five straight (0-4-1). Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 20 saves.
“I didn’t [like] the first five minutes of the game, but after that I thought we skated well and made a lot of plays,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. “It was enough that we should’ve gotten a win.”
Nick Paul gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead at 5:01 of the first period when his centering pass attempt deflected off Connor Clifton’s skate and in.
Dahlin tied it 1-1 at 5:17 when he took control of the puck in the neutral zone and snapped a wrist shot past Vasilevskiy glove side.
“Too many selfish plays, I had a stupid penalty, it’s bad,” Dahlin said. “We had a ton of chances, we just couldn’t bear down when we got the chances. We let them come into our end and score easy goals. It’s frustrating.”
Darren Raddysh put the Lightning ahead 2-1 at 6:53 with a shot from the point that deflected off Bowen Byram’s stick and over Luukkonen.
Alex Tuch tied it 2-2 at 8:20 on a shot from the right circle that beat Vasilevskiy to the far post. It was his fifth goal in the past six games.
Peyton Krebs gave Buffalo a 3-2 lead at 17:09 with a shot from the hashmarks off a pass from Ryan McLeod.
Guentzel tied it 3-3 at 58 seconds of the second period when he chipped the puck past Luukkonen from the doorstep off a pass from Erik Cernak.
“We stuck with it,” Guentzel said. “We know they are a high-powered offense, so you just have to stay with them. One of those games that just happens throughout the year.”
BUF@TBL: Guentzel completes hat trick against the Sabres late in the 2nd period
Tage Thompson put the Sabres back ahead 4-3 with a power-play goal at 9:35, a wrist shot from above the left circle that beat Vasilevskiy stick side.
Peterka extended it to 5-3 at 12:40 when he forced a turnover by Kucherov and sent a snap shot from the right circle past Vasilevskiy glove side.
“Our offense was there, but we just gave them too much,” Buffalo forward Dylan Cozens said. “They’re a team that’s going to capitalize if you give them chances and they did that. When we get up two goals with two minutes left in the period, we’ve got to find a way to get out of that period and go into the third up two, obviously we didn’t do that.”
BUF@TBL: Thompson blasts home a PPG past Vasilevskiy to put the Sabres on top 4-3 in the 2nd
Guentzel’s second goal of the game cut it to 5-4 at 17:43, scoring from close range off a pass from Brayden Point. He completed the hat trick at 18:46 with a power-play goal to tie it 5-5, a one-timer from the right circle off a pass from Brandon Hagel.
The hat trick was Guentzel’s second this season and seventh of his career.
“It’s just a good play by [Hagel], I’m just trying to get open,” Guentzel said. “Obviously he made a good sell and made it pretty easy.”
The Sabres had a 6-on-3 advantage for the final 23 seconds after two minor penalties against the Lightning and Luukonen pulled for the extra skater, but Cernak blocked Thompson’s shot from the point to end the game.
“[Thompson] has as heavy a shot I’ve seen in a while,” Cooper said. “It’s the want to win and that’s what you want to see from your players. You’re begging for that to happen…it was a big play for us.”
Said Ruff: “Some of the plays we made were high-end plays to get the lead. We knew they were going to get some chances. We didn’t defend well on the sixth goal.”
NOTES: Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman left the game early in the first period and did not return. Cooper did not have any further updates. … Sabres forward Jack Quinn left the game after four shifts with an illness. Ruff said that he got sick on the bench after his final shift. … Hagel had two assists and reached the 70-point mark for the second straight season.
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Guentzel has hat trick, Bjorkstrand scores go-ahead goal and Lightning rally past Sabres 6-5
TAMPA, Fla. — — Jake Guentzel had a hat trick, Oliver Bjorkstrand scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period, and Tampa Bay Lightning rallied for a 6-5 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night.
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.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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Regular Season Series
Game Information
2024-25 Atlantic Division Standings
NHL News
TB leads 1-0
| 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BUF | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| TB | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| Team | W | L | OTL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | 39 | 21 | 3 | 81 |
| Toronto | 38 | 21 | 3 | 79 |
| Tampa Bay | 37 | 22 | 4 | 78 |
| Ottawa | 32 | 25 | 5 | 69 |
| Montreal | 30 | 26 | 6 | 66 |
| Detroit | 30 | 27 | 6 | 66 |
| Boston | 29 | 28 | 8 | 66 |
| Buffalo | 24 | 31 | 6 | 54 |
Trade addition Oliver Bjorkstrand scores winning goal in first game with Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning’s major deadline week move is already paying dividends.
Oliver Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde, who were acquired earlier this week from the Seattle Kraken, combined on the winning third-period goal during the Lightning’s 6-5 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.
After Nikita Kucherov threw a shot on net, Gourde’s rebound attempt was stopped by Buffalo netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
But a second rebound came right out to Bjorkstrand, who buried the puck into the back of the net.
Tampa Bay sent Seattle first-rounders in 2026 and 2027, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ second-round pick in 2025 and forward Michael Eyssimont in exchange for the two forwards on Wednesday.
Eyssimont also impressed in his Kraken debut on Thursday, scoring a goal of his own during his first games with Seattle.
His sixth of the season came late in the third period of a 5-3 loss to the Nashville Predators.
Bjorkstrand had 16 goals and 37 points over 61 games with Seattle.
The 29-year-old has spent the last three seasons with the Kraken, reaching the 20-goal plateau in both 2022-23 and 2023-24. The longtime Columbus Blue Jacket has found the back of the net 20 times or more in six of the last seven campaigns.
With a win over the Sabres, the Lightning would move within one point of the Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers, who are tied for first in the Atlantic Division.
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