Buffalo Sabres dominate Tampa Bay Lightning 7-3 -NHL Update
Buffalo just got a little closer to grabbing a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference as the Sabres dominated Tampa Bay Lightning, 7-3, on Monday night, March 19, 2012, at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Florida.
The Lightning just got a little weaker and further away from their playoff push, now entering a state of desperation which would require them to win all remaining games for any hope to enter the postseason.
With a number of injuries and lack of solid goaltending, things have been hard on Tampa Bay and at the moment, it seems as if there is barely anything they could do about it. Having a number of call-ups from the minor leagues has not been able to improve
Tampa Bay’s situation either.
"That's what you get," Lightning coach, Guy Boucher, said. "The guys tried hard and the American League guys are doing everything they can and our top guys have been pushing for so long, it's tough to ask for a perfect game. You can't put guys in slots they
have never been and expect that they'll go out there and play like (Nate) Thompson or (Adam) Hall or (Vincent) Lecavalier."
Drew Stafford got the first of the night a little over midway through the opener followed by a power play goal by Jason Pominville with Victor Hedman on the benches for holding.
Marcus Foligno widened the gap with his fourth of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season entering the second.
Bruno Gervais finally put Tampa Bay on the score board while Corey Tropp rebounded for Buffalo and Trevor Smith tried again to get Lightning back in the mix but two straight from Marcus Foligno and Brad Boyes was too much for the home team to handle.
Jason Pominville got the insurance shot 17 seconds into the third on a breakaway while Ryan Malone added the last of the night.
"We were able to capitalize on a couple of rushes and made some good plays on our power play," Pominville said. "When they have to change their game plan and open the game up, I think it falls into our style of play.”
Buffalo is now only two points away from tying eighth place Washington Capitals and will certainly be looking to do so against Montreal Canadiens at home on Wednesday.
Tampa Bay is pretty much out and could expect some tough competition against Edmonton Oilers, a team with nothing to lose, on Thursday.
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