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BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Tampa Bay Lightnings offense looks fine so far minus captain Steven Stamkos.A few acrobatic saves by goalie Ben Bishop didnt hurt either.Nikita Kucherov scored to increase his team-leading point total to 22, and Alex Killorn snapped a 10-game goal drought in leading a the Lightning to a 4-1 victory over the injury-depleted and scoring challenged Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night.Tampa Bay won its third straight, and improved to 6-2-1 in its past nine in its first game since Stamkos was sidelined by a torn ligament in his right knee.Obviously, were going to miss him. Hes a great leader. Its just one of those things where youve got to step up, said Bishop, who stopped 32 shots. Youve got to go more as a team effort because you cant rely on your big dog to come through. ... But weve got a lot of big dogs here.The Lightning were certainly barking with a spread-out attack that also included goals from Nikita Nesterov and Brayden Point, while Valtteri Filppula set up two goals with no-look passes.Its a necessary approach for a team that will be missing its two-time NHL scoring champion, who is expected to be sidelined for four months after having surgery earlier in the day.We know the drill and its going to be up to certain guys to kind of fill it up, said Killorn, who also had an assist. Thats 40 goals a year, and weve got to kind of make up for it.Its a different story for Buffalo, which continues to struggle to overcome its growing number of injuries.The Sabres are winless in their past six (0-4-2), a stretch in which theyve managed just six goals.It must be a joke right now: If you score two goals against the Buffalo Sabres youre going to win the game, forward Evander Kane said. Weve got to end that.Buffalo is playing without two top-line forwards, Ryan OReilly (mid-section) and Jack Eichel (left ankle), and two regular defensemen, Zach Bogosian (knee) and Dmitry Kulikov (lower back).Except for defenseman Cody Franson scoring on the power play, the Sabres couldnt buy a goal against Bishop.The most telling moment came a little over three minutes into the second period, when Bishop played the puck behind his own net and inexplicably sent a pass through the middle. The puck landed directly on the stick of Sabres forward Kyle Okposo, who snapped a shot at the wide-open net.Bishop, however, scrambled back and dived across the crease to glove the shot.Its a 1-0 game at that point and I just though he was completely out of it and wanted to make sure I settled it for a half second and shot it, Okposo said, before letting out a sigh. He made a heck of a save.Phew, said Bishop.I dove and I felt it hit my glove and I was kind of like, `Are you kidding me? Bishop said. Sometimes its good to be a little lucky, I guess.He was fortunate again in the second period when defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen slipped a shot through his legs only to have the puck dribble wide of the left post. Bishop did make several big stops on forward Sam Reinhart parked in front.Kucherovs goal with 18 seconds remaining in the second period proved to be a backbreaker for Buffalo. It allowed the Lightning to reclaim a two-goal lead after Franson had cut the margin seven minutes earlier.Killorn pounced on a turnover in Buffalos zone and fed Kucherov, who drove to left circle. Kucherov then snapped a shot that beat goalie Robin Lehner, who was screened by Tampa Bay forward Tyler Johnson.Game notesLightning LW Jonathan Drouin returned after missing seven games with an upper body injury. ... The Sabres Dan Bylsma became the NHLs 66th coach to reach 500 games. ... Franson became Buffalos first defenseman to score a goal this season. ... D Anton Stralman (upper body) missed his third straight game and is not expected to miss the final two games of Lightings five-game road trip.UP NEXTLightning: At Philadelphia on Saturday.Sabres: Host Pittsburgh on Saturday night.Air Max 270 React Canada .C. -- Kemba Walker and the Charlotte Bobcats got off to a fast start, and the Sacramento Kings were never quite able to catch up. Canada Nike Air Max Tailwind . -- Peyton Manning will have all of his wide receivers available for the first time in a month when the Denver Broncos begin their playoff run Jan. http://www.clearanceairmaxcanada.com/air-max-720-canada-sale.html . Deulofeu injured a muscle in his right leg in Evertons 4-1 win over Fulham in the English Premier League on Saturday. Barcelona says that its team doctors will "co-ordinate" with Evertons medical staff as Deulofeu recovers. Air Max 180 Canada .com) - The Montreal Canadiens will try to halt their longest losing streak of the season when they host the struggling New York Islanders in tonights clash at the Bell Centre. Nike Air Max Outlet Canada . Those lessons were more than enough to overwhelm the Utah Jazz. Lou Williams scored 25 points and the Hawks continued their offensive upswing as they rolled to an easy 118-85 victory over the Jazz on Friday night, winning their third straight and for the fourth time in five games.AUBURN, Ala. -- Mustapha Heron had his first career double-double -- 24 points and 10 rebounds -- Danjel Purifoy scored 16 points, and Auburn beat Eastern Kentucky 85-64 Thursday night in a Cancun Challenge game.Heron shouldered the load, but Auburn needed a team effort to keep its season-opening win streak alive.The Tigers led 10-2 but went cold while Eastern Kentucky (1-2) rallied and stayed ahead until two and a half minutes left in the first half. Purifoy hit a 3-pointer amid a 9-2 run and Auburn led 37-34 at halftime.The Colonels (1-2) closed to within 38-39 early in the second half on Jaylen Babb-Harrisons layup. Auburn pulled away on a 15-2 run and led 65-50 after a free throw by Heron and Eastern Kentucky got no closer.Auburns 34.5 shooting percentage in the first period became a scorching 56.7 percent in the second half as the Tigers broke the game open.Theyre a good team, and you cant give a team like that second- and third-chance opportunities, and thats what we did, Eastern Kentucky coach Dan McHale said. We allowed them to impose their will, and they made us pay.The Tigers (3-0) were by propelled by Heron, a freshman, who connected on all eight of his field goal attempts, but only made seven of his 13 free throws.Auburn outrebounded the Colonels 51-30, but made 25 of 41 free throws (61 percent), which helped Eastern Kentucky stay close for most of the game.I thought that we were obviously, our physicality -- the difference between the OVC and the SEC showed up on the boards, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. And obviously we took advantage of some things. I dont think that our offensive execution is not whhat it needs to be.dddddddddddd Were going to spend some time doing a better job with that.Nick Mayo led the Colonels with 22 points and five rebounds, and Dillon Avare added 14 points.THE TAKEAWAYAuburn: The Tigers finish their opening homestand 3-0 and head to Cancun, Mexico, on a roll.Eastern Kentucky: The Colonels drop the first of two games against Power 5 opponents and fall below .500 on the season.HE SAID ITInteresting. Weve struggled from the free throw line and we were shooting great in the preseason and we actually shot more free throws this week than we have in a while. I think Im not going to shoot any more free throws and just let them do it on their own because that could have been an issue in the outcome. -- Auburn coach Bruce PearlMAJOR MILESTONEAuburn guard Ronnie Johnson finished with 13 points, but it was a seemingly meaningless layup midway through the second half that mattered the most. With those two points, Johnson eclipsed 1,000 total points for his career. Johnson, a graduate transfer, scored 697 points in his first two years at Purdue and had 291 at Houston last year.STARTING HOTWith the win, Auburn moves to 3-0 for the first time since 2011-12. Its the second time in 12 years thats happened on The Plains.UP NEXTAuburn travels to Cancun to play Texas Tech on Tuesday for the Tigers first away game, and theyll look to keep Bruce Pearls best start at Auburn going.Eastern Kentucky also plays the Red Raiders in Cancun, but the Colonels take on Texas Tech on Saturday. ' ' '