Dylan Cozens scored 1:46 into overtime, and the Buffalo Sabres overcame blowing a late lead to beat the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Tuesday night for their first win of the season.
With Tampa Bay trailing 2-1 and its net empty, Brandon Hagel pushed the puck past Buffalo goalie Devon Levi (21 saves) during a net-front scrum with seven seconds remaining in regulation for his second goal of the night and fourth of the season.
However, it didn’t take long for Buffalo to answer via Cozens, who shot a wrister by Tampa Bay’s Jonas Johansson (28 saves) for the Sabres’ first win in three tries.
Zemgus Girgensons and Jeff Skinner also scored for the Sabres, who outshot the Lightning 31-23 and killed all four Tampa Bay power plays.
Johansson was making his third start in place of injured star Andrei Vasilevskiy (back) for the Lightning, who have lost three straight games — all on the road — after a 5-3, season-opening victory over Nashville at home. Tampa Bay, which has dropped its first three road games of a season for the first time since 2009-10, also played a second consecutive game without captain Steven Stamkos (lower-body injury).
Moments after star Tage Thompson missed on a semi-breakaway opportunity, the Sabres converted 8:57 into the game. Catching the Lightning amid a shift change, Tyson Jost sent the puck into the zone for an open Girgensons to drive past former Sabre Johansson.
After Tampa Bay responded by applying some pressure on Levi, Buffalo made it 2-0 with 4:32 remaining in the opening frame. Owen Power sent the puck to Skinner, who tucked it under a sprawling Johansson.
With 9:42 left in the middle period, Levi stymied Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov’s point-blank strike with a glove save. However, the Lightning cut their deficit in half with 2:02 remaining in the second.
Amid a 50-50 battle behind the Buffalo net, the puck made its way into the slot, where Hagel buried it to stay hot on the young season.
–Field Level Media
