Tampa Bay Lightning (23-9-5, second in the Atlantic) vs. Buffalo Sabres (10-18-6, sixth in the Atlantic)
Buffalo, New York; Tuesday, 7 p.m. EST
LINE: Sabres +210, Lightning -257; over/under is 6
BOTTOM LINE: Steven Stamkos leads Tampa Bay into a matchup against Buffalo. He currently ranks sixth in the league with 41 points, scoring 16 goals and recording 25 assists.
The Sabres are 3-4-3 against the rest of their division. Buffalo averages 3.0 penalties per game, the fewest in the Eastern Conference. Alex Tuch leads them averaging 0.7.
The Lightning are 8-5-1 against opponents in the Atlantic. Tampa Bay is sixth in the Eastern Conference averaging 3.2 goals per game, led by Stamkos with 16.
In their last meeting on Oct. 25, Buffalo won 5-1. Victor Olofsson scored two goals for the Sabres.
TOP PERFORMERS: Rasmus Dahlin leads the Sabres with 16 assists and has 22 points this season. Tage Thompson has 7 points over the last 10 games for Buffalo.
Stamkos leads the Lightning with 16 goals and has 41 points. Ondrej Palat has five goals and six assists over the last 10 games for Tampa Bay.
LAST 10 GAMES: Sabres: 2-5-3, averaging two goals, 3.6 assists, 2.9 penalties and 8.5 penalty minutes while giving up 2.8 goals per game with a .920 save percentage.
Lightning: 6-3-1, averaging 3.3 goals, six assists, 4.1 penalties and 11.5 penalty minutes while allowing 3.3 goals per game with an .885 save percentage.
INJURIES: Sabres: Alex Tuch: out (health and safety protocols), Casey Fitzgerald: out (covid-19), Peyton Krebs: out (health and safety protocols), Kyle Okposo: out (covid-19), Dustin Tokarski: out (health protocols), Craig Anderson: out (upper body), Robert Hagg: out (lower-body), Jacob Bryson: out (covid-19), Tage Thompson: out (health protocols), Anders Bjork: out (health and safety protocols).
Lightning: Ryan McDonagh: day to day (lower body), Zach Bogosian: day to day (lower body), Ross Colton: out (health protocols).
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