The Tampa Bay Lightning haven’t been a perfect team this year, but for all of their faults they have been a pretty good third period team. They’ve been especially good with the lead, bringing a 35-1-1 record when leading after two periods into their game against the Buffalo Sabres. Despite going into the final frame with a 2-1 lead, that record dropped to 35-1-2 as Jason Zucker tied it with a power play goal in the third, and Buffalo scored twice a in the shootout to pick up the 3-2 victory.
For one of the few times this season, the Lightning looked tired on the ice, especially in the third period.