Game Fifty-Four: Buffalo Sabres (32-20-4) at Tampa Bay Lightning (35-14-4)

Time: 7:00 PM EST

Location: Benchmark International Arena, Site of 13 NHL Stanley Cup Final Games

TV/Stream/Radio: Hulu, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App

Odds: Lightning -200

Know the Opponents: Die By the Blade

Do y’all remember that last stretch of days in high school or college right before a long holiday break? You know, the last day or so before Christmas or Spring Break when it was extremely hard to focus on actual school work? Well, that’s where the Lightning are as they head into their last two games before the Olympic Break. The pageantry and excitement of the Stadium Series game is over. Wait…one more.

Feb 1, 2026; Tampa Bay, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper walk to the bench for the third period in the 2026 Stadium Series ice hockey game against the Boston Bruins at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Okay. Now we can all officially move on with our hockey lives.

Looming over the team is the Olympics. Say what you will about the tournament, one thing is certain, the players are really looking forward to it. Unfortunately for the Lightning their last two games before the break are against division opponents. First up are the Buffalo Sabres. Then they close things out with Florida Panthers before a large portion of the team heads over to Italy.

These are some fairly important games as the top of the Atlantic continues to be quite crowded. After beating the Panthers last night, the Sabres come into Tampa in the first Wild Card spot, trailing the Lightning by just 5 points (albeit with two more games played). The 32 wins the Sabres have racked up this season are just four off of the total they posted all of last season as they try and end the league’s longest playoff drought which currently stands at 14 seasons.

It’s been an interesting season for Lindy Ruff (who was behind the bench for them during that last playoff appearance in 2011) and his team. It appeared to be another year heading for the bottom of the standings when they lost nine out of ten games in early November to leave them with a 5-8-4 record. However, right around the same time the Lightning turned things around, Buffalo went on a heater winning ten straight games and thirteen out of fourteen in December and January.

One thing that has helped them is that they’ve mastered picking up Bettman points this season. They have five overtime or shootout losses. They’ve also won six games in bonus time, so it wouldn’t be inconceivable to see tonight’s game go beyond the 60 regulation minutes.

Buffalo can score, their 2.56 GF/60 at 5v5 ranks 5th in the league. Tage Thompson (29 goals) and Alex Tuch (22 goals) are leading the way, but there are seven other players with double-digit goal totals including defensemen Rasmus Dahlin (11 goals) and Bowen Byram (10 goals). The Lightning are going to have their hands full containing this offense.

In net, the Sabres have been holding it together despite an injury to their number-one netminder, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who suffered a lower-body injury in a game against Toronto on January 27th. Buffalo is relying on the duo of Alex Lyon, who signed as a free agent last summer, and Colten Ellis, who was claimed off of waivers at the beginning of the season when Luukkonen sustained an injury in the preseason.

Tampa Bay likely draws Ellis tonight after Alex Lyon stopped 38 in the win against Florida. On the season Ellis has a 7-4-0 record, .898 SV%, and 3.05 GAA. Hey, sometimes the schedule gods look upon you with favor.

As for the Bolts, they’re coming off the high of their dramatic comeback win against Boston. The line-up could be a little jumbled up as Anthony Cirelli missed the final two periods against the Bruins following an open ice hit from Mark Kastelic. His status was unknown following the game.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see Coach Cooper go with an 11/7 line-up again as they continue to work Victor Hedman into the line-up. The team’s captain played 10:18 against Boston and the head coach acknowledged that the plan is to ease Hedman back into the line-up instead of throwing him out there for 25 minutes a night.

[UPDATE]

Well, it looks like the Lightning are down not only Anthony Cirelli, but also Nick Paul. After the morning skate, Coach Cooper announced that both forwards will miss the final two games before the break. The team recalled Scott Sabourin from Syracuse to fill one of the roster spots.

It is worth noting that, after Cirelli left the game on Sunday, Coach Cooper put together a line of Brandon Hagel, Jake Guentzel, and Nikita Kucherov. They did pretty well as the team posted an 8-2 edge in shots on goal when they were on the ice.

[END UPDATE]

The Bolts have shown an ability to focus on the game at hand this season. They haven’t been caught in too many trap games this year and have taken care of business when they’ve needed to. Tonight will be another one of those types of games. If they don’t focus on the Sabres tonight, the visitors have the firepower to make it a long night for the Bolts.

Shameless self-promotion – After many years of talking about it, my friend Jason Linkes and I have joined the podcast world. A bit of a snafu on our end had us launch a little earlier than expected, but the podcast, Backchecking The Bolts, is now out there in the world. If you ever wondered what it would be like if I transferred the written typos you read straight to your ears, well, now you can! You can find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you download your podcasts (I’m pretty sure).

Potential Lines

Tampa Bay Lightning (we can not stress how much we’re relying on the word “potential” with these lines)

Forwards:

Brandon HagelJake GuentzelNikita KucherovOliver BjorkstrandDominic JamesGage GoncalvesZemgus GirgensonsYanni GourdePontus HolmbergJack FinleyScott Sabourin

Defense:

J.J. MoserDarren RaddyshRyan McDonaghErik CernakDeclan CarlileMax CrozierVictor Hedman

Goaltenders:

Andrei VasilevskiyJonas Johansson

Buffalo Sabres

Forwards:

Zach BensonTage ThompsonAlex TuchJason ZuckerRyan McLeodJack QuinnJosh DoanNoah OstlundPeyton KrebsIsak RosenTyson KozakBeck Malenstyn

Defense:

Mattias SamuelssonRasmus DahlinBowen ByramOwen PowerZach MetsaMichael Kesselring

Goaltenders: