Lightning 4, Sabres 3

Mathieu Garon made 36 saves for his third straight victory and Vincent Lecavalier recorded his 800th career point as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the host Buffalo Sabres 4-3 on Tuesday.

Garon made 16 saves in the third period and Ryan Malone gave him a 4-2 lead on a breakaway with 1:23 left as the Lightning (4-3-2) swept the home-and-home series.

Buffalo's Nathan Gerbe scored with 50 seconds left to make it 4-3.

Steven Stamkos put the Lightning ahead 3-2 when he deflected Matt Gilroy’s shot from the left point through Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller at 4:42 of the second period. It was the 100th goal for Stamkos since the beginning of the 2009-10 season.

Thomas Vanek and Brad Boyes scored 35 seconds apart in the first 2:31 of the first period to give Buffalo (5-3-0) a 2-0 lead, It was the first of the season for Boyes, who also had an assist in his 500th consecutive game.

Lecavalier knocked in his own rebound at 13:03 of the first for his milestone point to cut the lead in half. Nate Thompson tied it 2-2 with 1 minute left in the first period when he banked a pass off Christian Ehrhoff’s skate past Miller’s short side.
Season Series
BuffaloStatsTampa Bay
1-3-0Vs3-1-0
11Goals12
8.8Shot %11.5
18.2Power Play %0.0
54.1Faceoff %45.9