Jake Guentzel records a hat trick and Oliver Bjorkstrand scores in his Bolts debut as Tampa Bay wins a wild one over Buffalo

BOTTOM LINE: The Buffalo Sabres are looking to stop their four-game slide with a victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tampa Bay is 36-21-4 overall and 7-10-0 against the Atlantic Division. The Lightning are second in the league with 217 total goals (averaging 3.6 per game).

Early in the third, the two newest members of the Lightning teamed up for the eventual game-winning goal. Following a Kucherov right-circle shot, Yanni Gourde knocked the puck to Oliver Bjorkstrand at the top of the crease, and Bjorkstrand swatted it in at 1:40.

It was far from pretty and, in fact, the Lightning’s 6-5, comeback win over the Sabres Thursday night was wildly bizarre. Though Tampa Bay was lulled into a sloppy, wide-open game by a Buffalo team with high-skill scorers but a porous defense,

Jake Guentzel had a hat trick, Oliver Bjorkstrand scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period, and Tampa Bay Lightning rallied for a 6-5 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.

INJURIES: Lightning: None listed. Sabres: None listed.

The Sabres must trade center Dylan Cozens before the March 7 NHL trade deadline to help re-set their core amid a brutal season.

The Buffalo Sabres (24-31-6) fell just short in a high-scoring battle against the Tampa Bay Lightning (37-21-4), losing 6-5 on Thursday night at Amalie Arena.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are looking to strike against the Buffalo Sabres in Tampa Thursday night. The Lightning currently have an overall record of 36-21-4, while the Sabres are 24-30-6. In the last 10 regular season games,