The Tampa Bay Lightning took a single standings point on Saturday night with a 3-2 shootout loss to the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center.
Tampa Bay, which secured a 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs berth earlier on Saturday, is now 44-26-6 this season.
Brayden Point and Gage Goncalves each scored for the Lightning in the second period to claim a 2-1 lead and offset Tage Thompson’s second-period goal.
Jason Zucker’s power-play goal tied the game in the third period before the Sabres won the game in the shootout.
Lightning goalie Jonas Johansson finished with 36 saves. Tampa Bay will close a four-game road trip on Monday with a 7 p.m. game against the New York Rangers.
Scoring summary
First period
None.
Shots on goal: BUF 9, TBL 2
Second period
TBL 1, BUF 0
1:35 Brayden Point (39) - Nikita Kucherov
A won faceoff for the Lightning led to a loose puck in front of the Buffalo net, and Brayden Point scored his team-leading 39th goal with his shot inside the left goalpost.
TBL 1, BUF 1
4:47 Tage Thompson (40) - Zach Benson
An open Tage Thompson tied the game with his shot from the top of the circles.
TBL 2, BUF 1
13:01 Gage Goncalves (6) - Oliver Bjorkstrand, Yanni Gourde
The Lightning restored their lead on Gage Goncalves’ shot from the high slot to cap a strong shift in the offensive zone.
Shots on goal: TBL 13, BUF 12
Third period
TBL 2, BUF 2
5:07 Jason Zucker (20) - Alex Tuch, Rasmus Dahlin - PP
Buffalo tied the game with a power-play goal from Jason Zucker in the third period, burying a rebound at the right post.
Shots on goal: BUF 13, TBL 5
Overtime
None.
Shots on goal: BUF 4, TBL 4
Shootout
BUF: Quinn, Tuch
Total shots: BUF 38, TBL 24
