Sabres vs Lightning

Final · Sat Feb 28 · 7:00 PM ET · Benchmark International Arena

Buffalo SabresSabres35-19-6

FinalFeb 28, 2026

Tampa Bay LightningLightning38-16-4

TVMSGBThe Spot - MTNStreamESPN+

Closing line

US sportsbook at puck drop

Moneyline

BUF+200

TB−245

Puck line

BUF +1.5−120

TB −1.5+100

Total O/U

Over 6.5−105

Under 6.5−115

Puck line: Sabres +1.5 covered.
Total O/U: over 6.5 (8 goals).

Recap

The Buffalo Sabres routed the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-2 at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa on Feb 28, 2026, a 4-goal win to move to 35-19-6.

The Sabres have won 3 straight. The Sabres won despite being outshot 38-35. They scored 4 unanswered goals in the first period.

Score by period

Buffalo Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning, score by period
Team	1	2	3	T
BUF	4	1	1	6
TB	0	1	1	2

W: Luukkonen · L: Vasilevskiy

Scoring plays

First Period

BUFGoal · 5:25Rasmus Dahlin Goal (12) Wrist Shot, assists: Owen Power (14)1-0
BUFGoal · 6:15Josh Norris Goal (7) Wrist Shot, assists: Josh Doan (22), Zach Metsa (2)2-0
BUFGoal · 8:18Josh Norris Goal (8) Tip-In, assists: Bowen Byram (21), Zach Benson (20)3-0
BUFGoal · 15:06Tage Thompson Goal (32) Wrist Shot, assists: Peyton Krebs (20), Rasmus Dahlin (38)4-0

Second Period

BUFGoal · 1:54Zach Metsa Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: none5-0
TBGoal · 16:03Dominic James Goal (7) Wrist Shot, assists: Oliver Bjorkstrand (18), Victor Hedman (14)5-1

Third Period

BUFGoal · 3:43Alex Tuch Goal (24) Wrist Shot, assists: Rasmus Dahlin (39), Jack Quinn (26)6-1
TBGoal · 5:27Victor Hedman Goal (1) Slap Shot, assists: Darren Raddysh (37)6-2

Team stats

BUFTB

Shots: 35; 38
Power Play Goals: 1; 0
Faceoff Win Percent: 48.4; 51.6
Hits: 16; 28
Blocked Shots: 14; 5
Penalty Minutes: 12; 28

Top performers

Buffalo SabresTampa Bay Lightning

Goals

Josh Norris2

Victor Hedman1

Assists

Rasmus Dahlin2

Victor Hedman1

Points

Rasmus Dahlin3

Victor Hedman2

Player stats

Sabres · Forwards

Player	BS	HT	TK	+/-	TOI	G	A	S	FO%	PIM
Zach Benson LW	0	2	0	1	13:39	0	1	0	100.0	2
Josh Doan RW	1	1	0	2	16:08	0	1	2	0.0	0
Tyson Kozak C	1	0	0	1	13:04	0	0	0	38.5	0
Peyton Krebs C	0	5	0	-1	10:59	0	1	0	33.3	0
Beck Malenstyn LW	2	4	0	0	12:26	0	0	1	0.0	0
Ryan McLeod C	1	0	0	1	20:21	0	0	2	47.6	0
Josh Norris C	0	0	0	2	15:03	2	0	2	43.8	0
Noah Ostlund C	2	1	0	1	14:46	0	0	0	0.0	0
Jack Quinn RW	0	1	0	2	14:21	0	1	2	0.0	0
Tage Thompson C	0	0	1	-1	16:00	1	0	6	75.0	0
Alex Tuch RW	0	1	0	-1	18:15	1	0	5	0.0	2
Jason Zucker LW	1	0	0	2	12:05	0	0	1	100.0	0

Sabres · Defense

Player	BS	HT	TK	+/-	TOI	G	A	S	PIM
Bowen Byram D	2	0	0	2	22:45	0	1	4	0
Rasmus Dahlin D	0	0	0	2	24:32	1	2	2	2
Michael Kesselring D	0	0	0	-1	8:40	0	0	0	4
Zach Metsa D	2	0	0	2	13:08	1	1	3	0
Owen Power D	0	0	0	2	19:59	0	1	4	0
Mattias Samuelsson D	2	1	1	-1	24:08	0	0	1	2

Sabres · Goalies

Player	GA	SA	SV	SV%	TOI	PIM
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen G	2	38	36	.947	59:41	0

Lightning · Forwards

Player	BS	HT	TK	+/-	TOI	G	A	S	FO%	PIM
Oliver Bjorkstrand RW	0	2	1	-1	16:24	0	1	4	0.0	0
Anthony Cirelli C	0	2	0	-2	14:01	0	0	1	66.7	2
Zemgus Girgensons C	0	3	0	-1	15:03	0	0	3	0.0	0
Gage Goncalves C	0	3	0	-1	8:17	0	0	2	0.0	0
Yanni Gourde C	0	5	0	-1	15:59	0	0	1	31.3	0
Jake Guentzel C	0	0	0	-1	13:02	0	0	3	50.0	14
Brandon Hagel LW	1	0	0	-1	21:05	0	0	8	0.0	0
Pontus Holmberg RW	0	1	0	0	13:52	0	0	1	0.0	0
Dominic James C	0	2	0	0	13:06	1	0	1	66.7	0
Nikita Kucherov RW	0	0	0	-1	20:11	0	0	4	0.0	0
Brayden Point C	1	0	1	0	17:52	0	0	0	56.3	2

Lightning · Defense

Player	BS	HT	TK	+/-	TOI	G	A	S	PIM
Erik Cernak D	1	1	1	-1	14:39	0	0	0	0
Charle-Edouard D'Astous D	0	3	1	-2	15:50	0	0	0	4
Victor Hedman D	1	1	0	1	16:53	1	1	2	2
Emil Lilleberg D	0	3	1	-1	16:45	0	0	3	2
Ryan McDonagh D	0	0	0	-3	16:16	0	0	0	0
J.J. Moser D	1	1	0	-1	15:46	0	0	2	0
Darren Raddysh D	0	1	1	1	21:18	0	1	3	2

Lightning · Goalies

Player	GA	SA	SV	SV%	TOI	PIM
Jonas Johansson G	1	21	20	.952	38:06	0
Andrei Vasilevskiy G	5	14	9	.643	21:54	0

Three stars

Rasmus Dahlin (BUF)
Josh Norris (BUF)
Zach Metsa (BUF)

Game info

VenueBenchmark International Arena, Tampa, FL

Attendance19,092

OfficialsLinesman: Jonny Murray · Referee: Jean Hebert · Referee: Furman South · Linesman: Julien Fournier

TVMSGB · localThe Spot - MTN · local

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Game details updated Oct 13, 6:06 PM ET. How game pages are made