Lightning sputter early again, drop 2nd in a row with loss to Sabres

Eduardo A. Encina, Tampa Bay Times on Feb 28, 2026

Published in Hockey

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

TAMPA, Fla. — For the second straight game the Lightning dug themselves a quick hole, but on Saturday night against a Buffalo team nipping at their heels in the Atlantic Division standings they couldn’t bounce back from their slow start.

And before they knew it, a three-goal deficit little more than eight minutes into the game spiraled into a five-goal hole, leading to a rare pulling of Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy less than 22 minutes into the game.

A 6-2 loss to the Sabres at Benchmark International Arena was further proof that since resuming play, the Lightning are struggling to recapture the winning brand of hockey that made them the hottest team going into the Olympic break.

They were able to get away with it in a home win over Toronto Wednesday in their first game back, but in back-to-back losses Thursday at Carolina and Saturday against the Sabres, they’ve been sloppier with the puck and look a tad slow.

Saturday’s lopsided loss marked the first time they lost consecutive games since mid-December, when they fell at home to Florida on Dec. 15 and the Kings on Dec. 18.

The Sabres, who now trail the first-place Lightning by just four points in the Atlantic after going 9-2-1 in their last 12 and 24-5-2 since Dec. 9, scored their their first four goals on just seven shots.

It was the first time Vasilevskiy had been pulled from a start this season and the first time since Oct. 21, 2024, when he exited a 5-2 loss at Toronto after allowing four goals on 14 shots midway through the second period.

Buffalo made the Lightning pay on the rush early Saturday, their first two goals coming after picking up speed in the neutral zone and finding shooting lanes with quick puck movement. Defenseman Rasmus Dahlin’s wrister through traffic from the high slot opened the scoring, and then Josh Norris was left uncovered at the right dot to put Buffalo up 2-0 just 6:15 into the game.

Norris scored again at 8:18, redirecting a puck that defenseman Bowen Byram shot toward the net from just inside the blue line.

The Lightning also trailed 3-0 Thursday at Carolina but were able to tie the game twice before losing, 5-4. But there wasn’t that kind of response Saturday. Tage Thompson made it 4-0 when the Lightning couldn’t clear the puck and Peyton Krebs fed Thompson, who had a step on Zemgus Girgensons and skated in to beat Vasilevskiy from in close.

It didn’t get better in the second, when Sabres defenseman Zach Metsa picked off Anthony Cirelli’s clearing attempt and beat Vasilevskiy from the high slot, leading to Jonas Johansson replacing Vasilevskiy just 1:54 into the period.