Buffalo Sabres vs Tampa Bay Lightning

Regular season · Saturday, February 28, 2026 · Benchmark International Arena

BuffaloSabresAway

6–2

Final

SOG 35–38

Tampa BayLightningHome

The Spot · MSG-B

Game summary

The Buffalo Sabres beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-2 on Saturday, February 28, 2026 at Benchmark International Arena. The Lightning outshot the Sabres 38-35.

Josh Norris scored twice. Rasmus Dahlin, Tage Thompson, Zach Metsa, Dominic James, Alex Tuch and Victor Hedman also scored.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 36 saves on 38 shots for the win; Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 9 of 14.

Goals	1st	2nd	3rd	T	SOG
BUF	4	1	1	6	35
TBL	0	1	1	2	38

Three stars

Scoring

1st period

Rasmus Dahlin (12)Owen Power (14)1–005:25 BUF
Josh Norris (7)Josh Doan (22), Zach Metsa (2)2–006:15 BUF
Josh Norris (8)Bowen Byram (21), Zach Benson (20)3–008:18 BUF
Tage Thompson (32)Peyton Krebs (20), Rasmus Dahlin (38)Gourde 1:44 into shift4–015:06 BUF

2nd period

Zach Metsa (2)Unassisted5–001:54 BUF
Dominic James (7)Oliver Bjorkstrand (18), Victor Hedman (14)Power 1:44 into shift5–116:03 TBL

3rd period

Alex Tuch (24)Rasmus Dahlin (39), Jack Quinn (26)Lilleberg 1:19 into shift6–103:43 BUF · PPG
Victor Hedman (1)Darren Raddysh (37)Samuelsson 1:09 into shift6–205:27 TBL

Tired legs

Seconds into the shift for every skater on the ice at each goal. Taller bar, longer shift.

0–20s20–40s40–60s60–80s80s+

1:44

4–0 · 1st 15:06 · Thompson. Gourde was 1:44 into his shift when it went in.

GoalBUF on iceTBL on iceDefenders’ longest

1–0 BUF

1st 5:25 · Dahlin

McDonagh 0:52

NormalMcDonagh 0:52

2–0 BUF

1st 6:15 · Norris

Kucherov 0:50

NormalKucherov 0:50

3–0 BUF

1st 8:18 · Norris

Kucherov 0:55

NormalKucherov 0:55

4–0 BUF

1st 15:06 · Thompson

Stuck out there: Gourde 1:44

Stuck out thereGourde 1:44

5–0 BUF

2nd 1:54 · Metsa

Hedman 0:43

NormalHedman 0:43

5–1 TBL

2nd 16:03 · James

Stuck out there: Power 1:44

Stuck out therePower 1:44

6–1 BUF

3rd 3:43 · PP · Tuch

Long shift: Lilleberg 1:19

Long shiftLilleberg 1:19

6–2 TBL

3rd 5:27 · Hedman

Long shift: Samuelsson 1:09

Long shiftSamuelsson 1:09

Hover or tap a bar for the skater.

Across the league. Share of 5v5 unblocked shots that went in, by how far into his shift the defending team’s longest-serving skater was (2025–26).

3.9%

5.8%

6.5%

7.1%

7.3%

0–20s20–40s40–60s60–80s80s+

1.9×

Shots against a skater 80s+ into his shift go in 1.9 times as often as against fresh legs (7.3% vs 3.9%).

30%

of 5v5 goals came with a defender 60s+ into his shift.

Team stats

BUFTBL

35Shots on goal38

48%Faceoff %52%

1/5Power play0/3

12Penalty minutes28

16Hits28

14Blocked shots5

16Giveaways11

2Takeaways6

Penalties

1st 10:44Zach Benson · cross checking2 min
2nd 05:47Brayden Point · slashing2 min
2nd 05:47Rasmus Dahlin · cross checking2 min
2nd 10:26Emil Lilleberg · roughing2 min
2nd 12:10Jake Guentzel · delaying game puck over glass2 min
2nd 16:03Victor Hedman · roughing2 min
2nd 16:03Mattias Samuelsson · roughing2 min
3rd 01:28Alex Tuch · roughing2 min
3rd 01:28Charle-Edouard D'Astous · roughing2 min
3rd 01:28Michael Kesselring · cross checking2 min
3rd 02:02Jake Guentzel · abuse of officials2 min
3rd 02:02Jake Guentzel · abusive language10 min
3rd 06:23Darren Raddysh · cross checking2 min
3rd 12:48Anthony Cirelli · interference2 min
3rd 17:12Michael Kesselring · cross checking2 min
3rd 20:00Charle-Edouard D'Astous · roughing2 min

Season series

Buffalo Sabres

Buffalo Sabres skaters

26Rasmus DahlinD	1	2	3	+2	2	0	0	2	–	24:32
9Josh NorrisC	2	0	2	+2	2	0	0	0	44	15:03
73Zach MetsaD	1	1	2	+2	3	0	2	0	–	13:08
6Zach BensonL	0	1	1	+1	0	2	0	2	100	13:39
19Peyton KrebsC	0	1	1	-1	0	5	0	0	33	10:59
22Jack QuinnR	0	1	1	+2	2	1	0	0	–	14:21
72Tage ThompsonC	1	0	1	-1	6	0	0	0	75	16:00
89Alex TuchR	1	0	1	-1	5	1	0	2	–	18:15
91Josh DoanR	0	1	1	+2	2	1	1	0	–	16:08
4Bowen ByramD	0	1	1	+2	4	0	2	0	–	22:45
25Owen PowerD	0	1	1	+2	4	0	0	0	–	19:59
17Jason ZuckerL	0	0	0	+2	1	0	1	0	100	12:05
29Beck MalenstynL	0	0	0	0	1	4	2	0	–	12:26
48Tyson KozakC	0	0	0	+1	0	0	1	0	38	13:04
71Ryan McLeodC	0	0	0	+1	2	0	1	0	48	20:21
86Noah OstlundC	0	0	0	+1	0	1	2	0	–	14:46
8Michael KesselringD	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0	4	–	08:40
23Mattias SamuelssonD	0	0	0	-1	1	1	2	2	–	24:08

Buffalo Sabres goalies
Goalie	DEC	SA	SV	GA	SV%	TOI
1Ukko-Pekka LuukkonenG	W	38	36	2	.947	59:41
92Colten EllisG		0	0	0	–	00:00

Tampa Bay Lightning

Tampa Bay Lightning skaters

77Victor HedmanD	1	1	2	+1	2	1	1	2	–	16:53
17Dominic JamesC	1	0	1	0	1	2	0	0	67	13:06
22Oliver BjorkstrandR	0	1	1	-1	4	2	0	0	–	16:24
43Darren RaddyshD	0	1	1	+1	3	1	0	2	–	21:18
21Brayden PointC	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	56	17:52
28Zemgus GirgensonsC	0	0	0	-1	3	3	0	0	–	15:03
29Pontus HolmbergR	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	–	13:52
37Yanni GourdeC	0	0	0	-1	1	5	0	0	31	15:59
38Brandon HagelL	0	0	0	-1	8	0	1	0	–	21:05
59Jake GuentzelC	0	0	0	-1	3	0	0	14	50	13:02
71Anthony CirelliC	0	0	0	-2	1	2	0	2	67	14:01
86Nikita KucherovR	0	0	0	-1	4	0	0	0	–	20:11
93Gage GoncalvesC	0	0	0	-1	2	3	0	0	–	08:17
27Ryan McDonaghD	0	0	0	-3	0	0	0	0	–	16:16
51Charle-Edouard D'AstousD	0	0	0	-2	0	3	0	4	–	15:50
78Emil LillebergD	0	0	0	-1	3	3	0	2	–	16:45
81Erik CernakD	0	0	0	-1	0	1	1	0	–	14:39
90J.J. MoserD	0	0	0	-1	2	1	1	0	–	15:46

Tampa Bay Lightning goalies
Goalie	DEC	SA	SV	GA	SV%	TOI
31Jonas JohanssonG		21	20	1	.952	38:06
88Andrei VasilevskiyG	L	14	9	5	.643	21:54