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Richards' third-period goal lifts Lightning over Sabres

Jan 14, 2007 - 4:39 AM BUFFALO, New York (Ticker) -- Brad Richards picked a great time to end his goalless drought.

Richards snapped a tie just under seven minutes into the third period and Marc Denis made 32 saves as the Tampa Bay Lightning posted a 3-2 victory over the slumping Buffalo Sabres.

Richards, who had not scored in his previous six games, came through at 6:56 of the third. With the contest even at 2-2, he one-timed a shot from the right faceoff circle between goaltender Ryan Miller's pads for his 15th goal of the season.

"It was a very good play by (defenseman) Paul Ranger," Richards said. "He gave me a yell. I knew that he knew I was there. Right before that, he got spun around, but he still knew I was there. It was a great play."

Vincent Lacavalier and defenseman Dan Boyle also scored for the Lightning, who extended their winning streak to four games. Lecavalier and teammate Martin St. Louis were selected as All-Star reserves for the Eastern Conference earlier in the day.

St. Louis assisted on Lecavalier's first-period goal, extending his points streak to 10 games.

"Marty made the whole play," Lecavalier said. "He was behind the net fighting. It just came in front, and it was a great pass. I just shot it and it went between his legs."

Boyle forged a 2-2 deadlock with 4:22 left in the second period, unleashing a slap shot from the right point that sailed past Miller.

Jason Pominville and Ales Kotalik tallied for the Sabres, who lost for the fourth time in six games.

"We made some poor decisions with the puck," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. "We skated a lot better. We had five or six really good opportunities to score in the third period, and we didn't. Some of our decisions weren't very good."

Kotalik's goal was only his second in the last seven games, while Pominville snapped a four-game drought.

"Denis played well," said Pominville, who now has 20 tallies this season. "We had over 30 shots and a lot of good chances. He made some big saves towards the end, but overall, we just weren't good enough to win. We turned the puck over way too much."

"Obviously, this is a good measuring stick at this point in the season," Denis said. "We're playing better, and we're a much better team than the last time we were in here. We're out to get points, night in and night out, right now. I thought from top to bottom, this was a gritty effort tonight."

The Sabres, who scored seven second-period goals in a 7-2 rout of the Lightning on November 20, went 0-for-6 on the power play.

"Denis played well and give him credit, but I think we need to have a little more desperation early in the game than late in the game," said Buffalo defenseman Brian Campbell, who was voted as a starter for the Eastern Conference in the All-Star Game.