Lightning Cruise to 4-1 over Sabres in First Game Without Stamkos

No Stamkos, no problem.

At least that’s what it seemed like for the night. The Lightning (11-6-1) rolled to a 4-1 win in Buffalo over the Sabres (5-8-4) on Thursday.

Filling Stamkos’ Shoes

Valteri Filppula had two assists by setting up the first two goals, and Ben Bishop added some remarkable saves to give the Lightning a win in their first game since losing star player Steven Stamkos to a torn meniscus.

Tampa Bay currently sits in third in the Eastern Conference. They’ve now won three straight and four out of their last five games. They’ll be looking to continue to the good play without their captain, with goalie Ben Bishop saying the team as a whole will need to step up and “pick up the slack” of the void left by their best player.

Game Recap

Nikita Nesterov and Alex Killorn kicked off the scoring for the Lightning against the Sabres. The duo gave them a 2-0 lead midway through the 2nd period after being set up by two sublime Filppula passes. Killorn was heavily involved in the offense, registering a goal and an assist to break his ten game goalless drought.

https://twitter.com/TBLightning/status/799412087973937152

Buffalo did manage to pull one back in what became a goal fest of a 2nd period, via a power play goal from Corey Franson.

Bishop, however, made numerous acrobatic saves to preserve the Tampa Bay lead. Lightning head coach Jon Cooper acknowledged his importance, saying it was “the Ben Bishop show.”

Waiting for word on whether or not Bishop will be facing robbery charges. #TBLvsBUF pic.twitter.com/5F541KT4fl

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) November 18, 2016

The Lightning quickly restored their two goal lead.

Nikita Kucherov tallied his team leading 22nd point of the season on a goal with 18 seconds left in the 2nd period. Kucherov took a Killorn pass, turned and fired it in between the legs of Robin Lehner for Tampa Bay’s third goal of the game.

Nikita Kucherov does as Nikita Kucherov pleases. #TBLvsBUF pic.twitter.com/Dsf86Betw3

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) November 18, 2016

As if there was any doubt about the result of the game, Brayden Point removed it with his power play goal two minutes from the end. The goal marked Tampa Bay’s 18th power play goal of the season, enough for the league lead.

The Lightning will continue their road trip when they head to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers. The Sabres, meanwhile, will host last year’s Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins, with both games happening on Saturday.