Buffalo Sabres (19-39-5) at Tampa Bay Lightning (38-20-6), 7:30 p.m. (ET)
(SportsNetwork.com) - The Tampa Bay Lightning get to unveil new defenseman Braydon Coburn when they kick off a three-game homestand in Tuesday's clash with the Buffalo Sabres.
The Lightning acquired Coburn from Philadelphia early Monday morning and gave up quite a haul to land the veteran blueliner. The Flyers received defenseman Radko Gudas and a pair of draft picks in the 2015 draft. Tampa yielded a first-round choice and a third-rounder in the June draft.
Coburn had one goal and eight assists for nine points in 39 games with the Flyers this season. He has compiled 37 goals and 129 assists for 166 points in 614 NHL games.
"I guess the biggest thing where he has played, what he has done is he's been a defensive-minded defenseman that has matched up against the other team's top players and that's the most important thing to us," said Tampa general manager Steve Yzerman. "He can log a lot of minutes."
The 30-year-old veteran also has two goals and 23 points in 72 career postseason games. Coburn is expected to be in the lineup for the Bolts tonight.
Tampa Bay also traded forward Brett Connolly to the Boston Bruins on Monday, acquiring second-round picks in the next two drafts. Connolly has 12 goals and three assists in 50 games this season.
The Lightning enter Tuesday with 82 points, one more than third-place Detroit in the Atlantic Division standings. Tampa is five points behind the division- leading Montreal Canadiens.
Tampa has lost two of its last three games and is coming off Sunday's 4-3 regulation loss to the Florida Panthers. Jaromir Jagr posted a goal and an assist to help the Panthers down the visiting Bolts.
Anton Stralman had a goal and an assist in the loss, while Tyler Johnson and Steven Stamkos also scored for the Lightning, who had won three of four coming in. Ben Bishop turned aside 22 shots in the loss.
Tampa was down 4-1 after Aaron Ekblad scored at 4:18 of the third period, but Stamkos and Johnson would help make it a one-goal game. Johnson's marker, his 24th of the season, cut the deficit to 4-3 with 2:44 remaining, but that was as close as the Lightning would get.
"There's no easy team in this league and this is a team that's fighting for it's playoff lives," said Stamkos, who leads his club with 34 goals. "We can't be surprised that we're down 4-1 when we came out with an effort like that. You can't play a game for 10 minutes and expect to win."
Tampa boasts a terrific 23-6-1 record as the hosts and will also welcome Toronto and Dallas during this homestand. The Lightning have won two straight and four of their last five when hosting Buffalo. The Sabres have lost three straight overall against Tampa since taking the first of five 2014-15 meetings in Buffalo on Dec. 2.
The Sabres, already the worst team in the NHL with only 43 points, held a fire sale at Monday's trade deadline. Buffalo traded away forwards Chris Stewart, Torrey Mitchell and Brian Flynn and also dealt goaltender Michal Neuvirth.
Flynn and Mitchell were sent to Montreal in separate deals, Stewart was shipped to Minnesota and Neuvirth landed with the New York Islanders.
Buffalo received mostly prospects and draft picks in return, but goaltender Chad Johnson, who was acquired in the Neuvirth deal, could get a chance to be the club's No. 1 option in net down the stretch. It's unclear if Johnson will debut with Buffalo tonight or if Anders Lindback will get the call instead.
The Sabres lost for the third time in five games Saturday in Florida, dropping a 5-3 decision at the start of a five-game road trip. Buffalo had a two-game winning streak halted despite jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the game.
Cody Hodgson and Andrej Meszaros scored first-period goals for Buffalo, while Mitchell also lit the lamp in the third stanza.
Neuvirth allowed four Panthers goals but made 42 saves in the setback.