Josh Doan’s second power-play goal capped a manic third period as the Buffalo Sabres rallied from a pair of two-goal deficits and took over first place in the Atlantic Division with a wild 8-7 win over the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday.
In their NHL-best seventh straight win, the Sabres allowed five unanswered goals to turn a 4-1 lead into a 6-4 deficit six minutes into the final period. After the two teams exchanged goals, Buffalo scored three times in a span of 4:40 to move to 2-0-1 against Lightning and lead the visitors 84-82 in division standings’ points.
Alex Tuch and Jason Zucker also scored twice, and Sam Carrick and Rasmus Dahlin found the net. Bowen Byram had three assists.
Tage Thompson produced four assists to extend his point streak to 11 games (six goals, nine assists). Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 21 of 28 shots on goal.
Buffalo was 4 for 7 on the power play and tallied short-handed.
Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov had two goals and an assist, and J.J. Moser had a goal and two assists. Back-up netminder Jonas Johansson made 34 saves.
Corey Perry, Zemgus Girgensons, Brayden Point and Brandon Hagel had goals. Darren Raddysh posted three helpers.
The clubs, who combined for 100 penalty minutes, began scrapping with each other after Tampa Bay’s Hagel and Anthony Cirelli crushed Thompson into the boards just 4:36 into the match.
Doan broke through for Buffalo by scoring his 20th goal at 8:26.
Two fights happened at center ice to add to the madness before the puck barely even dropped on the second period.
Buffalo scored two more times on the man advantage on tallies by Zucker and Tuch for a 3-0 lead just 5:10 into the middle frame.
Perry put Tampa Bay on the board at 7:55 with his second goal in as many games with his new club.
However, Tuch scored Buffalo’s 10th short-handed goal on a breakaway by slipping a shot between Johansson’s pads at 11:07, but Kucherov tallied 1:19 later to cut it to 4-2.
Girgensons and Moser potted markers to close the period, leaving it tied at 4-all.
Kucherov’s second tally at 59 seconds in the third put the Lightning up 5-4, and Point made it a two-goal margin after Owen Power tapped it into his own net.
Former New York Ranger Carrick netted his first Buffalo marker 26 seconds later to cut it to 6-5. However, Hagel netted a rebound at 9:48 before Dahlin made it 7-6 at 11:03.
Zucker scored his second at 14:29 to knot it 7-all, and Doan’s second goal was the club’s fourth on the power play for the win at 15:43.
The 15 goals scored is the most by two teams in a game this season.
