FAQ » the way our team is progressing

BUFFALO www.officialdevils.com , N.Y. (AP) — For the second game in a row, the Tampa Bay Lightning started off slow. And once again, they rallied for a win.Steven Stamkos scored the tiebreaking goal with 5:16 remaining to lead the Lightning to a 5-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night. It followed a similar performance in the team’s 3-1 win over Carolina on Thursday.“For the first period and a half I didn’t think we had it, that’s another slow start,” Stamkos said. “We need to correct some things there. But this group this year, it just feels different. Just finding that we’re confident we’re going to win. We found a way.”Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Ondrej Palat and Ryan Callahan also scored for to help the Lightning win for the 18th time in 20 games and improve to 35-8-2. Louis Domingue stopped 30 shots.“I think everybody thinks the same way on the team,” Tampa Bay defenseman Mikhail Sergachev said. “We know that we’re going to bounce back. I mean New Jersey Devils T-Shirts Authentic , look at our group. We have so much skill and big defensemen who can shoot and skate and forwards are super skilled. We always have a feeling that we’re going to bounce back and score goals.”The teams traded goals in each period before Tampa Bay took charge late.The game-winner came off a drop-pass by Kucherov, the NHL’s leading scorer. Stamkos then ripped a hard shot to the blocker side to put the Lightning up for good. Ryan Callahan then added some insurance with 1:19 remaining to make it 5-3.Sam Reinhart, Tage Thompson and Marco Scandella scored for Buffalo, which lost for the second straight night. Linus Ullmark finished with 25 saves.“I thought we worked hard,” Sabres captain Jack Eichel said. “Obviously we didn’t get the outcome we wanted. I thought there was a lot of good there for us.”Scandella gave Buffalo a 3-2 lead at 5:54 of the third, chipping home a pass from Jason Pominville from close range.Just 23 seconds later, the Lightning took advantage of a bad giveaway by Sabres defenseman Lawrence Pilut, and Stamkos found Kucherov for his 22nd goal of the season.The Lightning leaned on Kucherov time and time again throughout the game.“He can do some magical things, that kid New Jersey Devils Hoodies Authentic ,” Cooper said. “Everybody was kind of sleep-walking through that first period but you could see he had the vibe going so when he’s got that happening, you kind of have to get him out there as much as you can. As that game wore on he was driving the bus.”Point opened the scoring just 26 seconds into the game. After a faceoff win in the Buffalo zone, Point buried a rebound for his 29th goal of the year.Reinhart evened the score five minutes later after a Buffalo power play expired. Reinhart put a move on Stamkos in the high slot and placed a wrist shot high to the glove side for his 10th of the season.Thompson gave Buffalo a 2-1 lead just before the end of the first, finishing a 2-on-1 chance into the far corner with 10 seconds left in the period.Palat evened the score at 2-2 on a spectacular play by Sergachev. Sergachev raced to the right, placing a perfect backhand pass to Palat in the slot and Palat’s one-timer went in for his sixth.NOTES: D Nathan Beaulieu, D Matt Hunwick and LW Remi Elie were scratched for the Sabres. … D Anton Stralman, RW Mathieu Joseph and LW Danick Martel were scratched for the Lightning. … The fourth and final meeting between the two teams is on Feb. 21 in Tampa Bay.UP NEXTLightning: At the New York Islanders on Sunday night.Sabres: Begin a five-game road trip on Monday against Edmonton. After a strong start under new coach Ken Hitchcock, the Edmonton Oilers are proving to be a work in progress.With the league’s Christmas break in the rearview mirror, the Oilers have to figure out how to squeeze more production out of every player New Jersey Devils Hats Authentic , starting with Thursday’s matchup against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Place.In the first 3 1/2 weeks under Hitchcock, Edmonton (18-15-3) picked up 20 of a possible 26 points, but the Oilers slumped recently.With a 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday, the Oilers have been outscored 14-6 during a three-game skid. The club also surrendered five power-play goals during that span, including three in a 4-2 loss at Vancouver on Dec. 16.Article continues below ...Lack of consistent production from players other than Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Alex Chiasson combined with injuries to defensemen Oscar Klefbom and Kris Russell have contributed to Edmonton’s slide.“We’re going to have to figure out who’s helping and who’s hurting for us to get to another level,” Hitchcock said. “We can’t keep doing it the same way over and over because it’s not going to work.”One core player — and a Stanley Cup winner — believes the team needs to show more mental toughness.“This group has to learn how to play in close games,” said Chiasson Custom New Jersey Devils Jerseys , who won a championship with the Washington Capitals last summer before joining the Oilers in October. “If you want to be a playoff team, a team that has the chance to go deep, you have to learn how to play down one goal and stick with it for 60 minutes.”Chiasson is third on the team with a career-best 16 goals, including four in his last five games.Edmonton has won four straight and is 6-0-1 in its last seven at home against the Canucks.Vancouver (17-18-4) kicks off a six-game road trip looking to continue its strong play away from home. After six consecutive road losses in November, the Canucks went 3-0-1, including a win over the Columbus Blue Jackets and a point against the Nashville Predators.Travis Green’s team comes off a 1-0 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday. After his team took three of five on the homestand, Green offered praise.“I like the way our team is progressing. I like the way they are playing. I wish we had a few more wins, I think we easily could,” he told the team’s official website.Vancouver is 10th in the Western Conference www.officialislanders.com , but Green also points to a culture change for a club long linked to now-retired twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin and that hasn’t been to the postseason since 2013.“We’re still young in a lot of areas. Sometimes that shows. We’re in it right now. We’re playing to win,” Green said. “Our guys are believing in themselves. We talk about playing fast and hard and playing with confidence, and they are.” The team features young stars in Brock Boeser and Bo Horvat, who has scored 12 of his 17 goals this season on the road.However, rookie Elias Petterson may be the best of the bunch.The 20-year-old winger has points in eight of 11 games this month, including his second five-point effort on Dec. 9 in a rout of the St. Louis Blues.Petterson leads all rookies in goals (17) and assists (19). No other first-year player has more than 23 points.One of Petterson’s five game-winning goals came against the Oilers this month.