Buffalo Sabres Opponent Outlook: Tampa Bay Lightning

By Melissa Kania | Oct 5, 2015

When the Buffalo Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning face off this season, the games will be slightly more competitive than last season. Just imagine: Jack Eichel vs. Steven Stamkos. Sam Reinhart vs. Ryan Callahan. Ryan O’Reilly vs. Tyler Johnson. Zach Bogosian vs. Victor Hedman… and so on…. and so on…

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Last season, the Sabres lost three of four meetings with the Lightning. They were outscored 13-3, shutout once, and outshot by 150%, 134-67.

Of course, things will be quite different this year, as the Sabres have a stronger offensive core with additions like Ryan O’Reilly, Jack Eichel and Evander Kane, so expect for things to look a little different.

The first meeting between the teams last season saw Ondrej Palat and Zemgus Girgensons tally in regulation. Tyler Ennis then had the game-winner in the shootout to give Buffalo the extra point. Evgeni Nabokov had 21 saves, while Jhonas Enroth stopped 26 of 27 shots faced.

The second meeting wasn’t so great for the Sabres, who fell 5-0. Radko Gudas, Brett Connolly, Steven Stamkos, Brenden Morrow and Jason Garrison all tallied for the Lightning. Ben Bishop had 13 saves for the shutout, while Jhonas Enroth had 30 saves in the penalty-filled game which totaled 110 penalty minutes between the two teams combined.

The next meeting was only slightly better for Buffalo, who managed to put up just 11 shots on goal. The Sabres lost 5-1, with Ennis notching the lone goal.

Matthew Carle, Palat, Connolly and Nikita Kucherov (2) scored for Tampa. Andrei Vasilevskiy had the 10 saves in an easy win, while Enroth stopped 20 shots in the loss.

Finally, the Sabres dropped the final meeting by a score of 2-1. Cody McCormick had the lone goal for Buffalo, while Stamkos and Valtteri Filppula scored for Tampa. Michal Neuvirth had 45 saves for Buffalo, while Bishop had 20 saves in the win.

The Lightning had a great season last year, finishing 3rd in the Eastern Conference with 108 points and a record of 50-24-8. That included an incredible home record that saw them earn at least a point in 33 of 41 games (32-8-1) and a steady road record of 18-16-7 before heading all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals.

No doubt they’ll look to continue their ways of success, build upon that and head to the SCF again, only to be victorious this time. The team heading into this season will look largely the same as the one that hit the ice last season, with a few minor changes.

In free agency, the Lightning picked up forward Tye McGinn from the Arizona Coyotes and Erik Condra from the Ottawa Senators. Former Lightning blueliner Mark Barberio signed with the Montreal Canadiens.

They re-signed Vladislav Namestnikov, Philippe Paradis and Luke Witkowski, who will all return to the Lightning organization for the upcoming season.

The Buffalo Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning face off four times this season, with all meetings coming in the first (roughly) month of the 2015-2016 season.

It all begins as the teams meet on October 10 for the first of several Saturday matinee Sabres games this season at First Niagara Center. They’ll meet again a week later in Tampa, then face off twice in five days in the month of November (5th @ BUF, 10th @ TBL) to close out the season series.

The final meeting will be a nationally-televised 7:30 p.m. puck drop on NBCSN.

Next: Lessons from the Preseason

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