Rasmus Dahlin finishes Sabres comeback with OT goal in Tampa

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Rasmus Dahlin scored a power-play goal in overtime and the Buffalo Sabres rallied to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Thursday night.

Dahlin, who also had an assist, joined Phil Housley as the only Buffalo defensemen to have consecutive 15-goal seasons. Housley had eight straight from 1982-83 to 89-90.

“One of the best in the world,” said Casey Mittelstadt, who set up Dahlin for the winning goal. “We’re lucky to have him, for sure.”

Alex Tuch and Tage Thompson also scored for the Sabres. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 21 shots to help Buffalo improve to 8-2-0 on the road since Jan. 1.

With Nikita Kucherov off for hooking, Dahlin scored from in-close 1:42 into overtime.

Buffalo appeared to get a break in overtime when the referees opted not to call what looked like a too many men on the ice penalty.

“Again, I’m not the ref, so plays go for you and against you,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “I think everybody in the building saw it and they don’t call it. We can’t sit here and say that call was the difference, but they ended up calling the penalty against us and we couldn’t kill it off.”

Buffalo, coming off a 3-2 loss at Florida on Tuesday night, is 10 points behind Tampa Bay, which currently holds the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot.

“I think obviously the last game didn’t end the way we wanted and felt like we deserve maybe a little bit of a better outcome,” Thompson said. “Tonight, I think we’re on the right side of things.”

Thompson made it 2-2 on the power play at 11:33 of the third. The Sabres’ 27th-ranked power play went 2 for 3.

Brayden Point and Mitchell Chaffee scored for the Lightning, who are currently in the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves, and NHL points leader Kucherov had an assist to give him 104 this season.

Tampa Bay left wing Brandon Hagel had his 14-game point streak end. Only Steven Stamkos, who put together an 18-game run in 2009-10, had a longer one in Lightning history.

Luukkonen kept it close through 40 minutes with several strong stops, including a pad save on Point’s first-period backhander and a one-timer from the slot by Stamkos in the second.

Vasilevskiy made a big save on a short-handed breakaway by Jordan Greenway in the third.

Chaffee put the Lightning up 2-1 with a deflection with 2:42 left in the second.

Point extended his point streak to eight games when he made a nifty move on Luukkonen and scored a power-play goal 8:12 into the game.

Tuch tied it at 1 just 2:47 later after stealing a pass by Point.

Sabres defenseman Erik Johnson didn’t play due to illness.

Don Granato fined $25k

The NHL issued a $25,000 fine to Sabres coach Don Granato for unprofessional conduct directed at officials. The league deemed Thursday that Granato crossed the line during games on Tuesday night.

Granato was issued a bench minor in the third period of Buffalo’s 3-2 loss at Florida, after questioning officials for penalizing Zach Benson for tripping, while suggesting they missed several calls against the Panthers earlier in the game.

“At some point, you’ve got to stand up for your team,” Granato said following the game in explaining what sent him over the top. “You’re put in that position as a coach. It’s a tough position to be in. But you can’t sit and watch.”

The money will got to the NHL Foundation.

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Sabres host Vegas on Saturday night.

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