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Michael Augello·Mar 6, 2025·Partner

Can The Sabres End Their Losing Skid Against The Lightning?

Sabres winger Jason Zucker will miss his fifth straight game.

Buffalo Sabres – Tampa Bay Lightning

3/6/25 – 7pm EST at Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL

Record

Buffalo – 24-30-6 | 54 points – 8th place in the Atlantic Division

Tampa Bay – 36-21-4 | 76 points – 3rd place in the Atlantic Division

Special Teams

Buffalo

Power Play – 16.8% (27th)

Penalty Kill – 76.9% (19th)

Tampa Bay

Power Play – 26.3% (7th)

Penalty Kill – 81.1% (10th)

Top Scorers

Buffalo

Tage Thompson: 54 GP, 30 G, 23 A, 53 PTS

Rasmus Dahlin: 52 GP, 10 G, 39 A, 49 PTS

JJ Peterka: 58 GP, 18 G, 31 A, 49 PTS

Tampa Bay

Nikita Kucherov: 58 GP, 28 G, 62 A, 90 PTS

Brandon Hagel: 61 GP, 30 G, 38 A, 68 PTS

Brayden Point: 56 GP, 32 G, 32 A, 64 PTS

Starting Goalies

Buffalo – Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (20-18-4, 3.06 GAA, .892 save %)

Tampa Bay – Andrei Vasilevskiy (29-16-3, 2.16 GAA, .924 save %)

Line Combinations and Pairings

Forwards

JJ Peterka - Ryan McLeod – Tage Thompson

Jordan Greenway - Dylan Cozens - Alex Tuch

Zach Benson – Jiri Kulich - Jack Quinn

Beck Malenstyn – Peyton Krebs - Sam Lafferty

Defense

Rasmus Dahlin - Bowen Byram

Mattias Samuelsson - Owen Power

Dennis Gilbert - Connor Clifton

Ex. - Jacob Bryson, Henri Jokiharju

Goaltenders

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

James Reimer

One year ago, before the NHL trade deadline, Buffalo Sabres GM Kevyn Adams said that he would not have an issue with his club acting as a middleman to facilitate a trade between two other clubs or to lower the cap hit to trade one of his players to a contender with limited cap space, but that it had to be worth it for the Sabres to do so.

thehockeynews.comWill Sabres Refuse To Use Their Cap Space At The Deadline Again?One year ago, before the NHL trade deadline, Buffalo Sabres GM Kevyn Adams said that he would not have an issue with his club acting as a middleman to facilitate a trade between two other clubs or to lower the cap hit to trade one of his players to a contender with limited cap space, but that it had to be worth it for the Sabres to do so.

Injuries

Jason Zucker (day-to-day – lower body)

Notes

The Sabres have earned a win in five of their last six games against the Lightning, including two straight victories over Tampa Bay. Buffalo has earned at least one point in six of its last seven contests with Tampa Bay. A win tonight would give the Sabres seven wins in an eight-game span against the Lightning for the first time since they did so from March 16, 2007 to Dec. 10, 2008 (7-1-0).

Alex Tuch has collected 12 points (7+5) in his last 10 games, including seven goals in his last eight games.

Rasmus Dahlin has recorded 26 assists in his last 26 games and he has registered 18 points (4+14) in his last 15 games, including one point in three straight games (1+2). Dahlin’s 26 assists in that span ranks third among all NHL skaters.

JJ Peterka has tallied 17 points (8+9) in his last 14 games and he is riding a six-game point streak (3+5). A point in tonight’s game would give Peterka the longest point streak of his career.

Tage Thompson has posted 28 points (14+14) in his last 25 games, including 13 points (8+5) in his last 10. Thompson has recorded one goal in back-to-back games and a goal tonight would give him his fourth goal streak of three or more games this season.

Follow Michael on X, Instagram, and Bluesky @MikeInBuffalo

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