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BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Steven Stamkos called it an "uncharacteristic hat trick." Even though one of the goals counted for the other team. Stamkos scored twice for Tampa Bay and overcame putting another goal in his own net as the Lightning beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 in overtime Saturday night. "Its a tough bounce, but we responded," Stamkos said. "We get a power play after that and tie it up and that was a good push back from us." With the game tied at 2, a delayed penalty to Cory Conacher drew Lightning goalie Ben Bishop to the bench for an extra attacker, but Stamkos back pass missed Michael Kostka and bounced off the boards in the neutral zone before gliding into the empty net. "I dont know if he took a puck and had 10 of them in a practice if he could throw it in," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "Gosh, that was tough to watch. And when the puck goes down the ice, of course its like going in slow motion." And for Stamkos, who would later score the winner in overtime, it was the first time seeing an "own goal" in person. "Ive seen it a couple times, never live," Stamkos said. "You see it on the highlights. Im sure Ill make them now in the un-top 10, but as soon as it went over our Ds stick I knew it had a pretty good chance to go in." Alex Killorn and Ryan Callahan also scored for the Lightning, who have earned at least a point in 11 consecutive games. With the win, Tampa Bay remained two points behind Montreal for second place in the Atlantic Division after the Canadiens beat Florida 4-1. Matt DAgostini, Cody Hodgson and Cory Conacher scored for Buffalo, which finished March with a 2-11-1 record. The first period had little flow, with Buffalos failed power play near the midpoint the only time either team threatened to score. That changed at the 12:20 mark, as DAgostini freely carried the puck over the Lightning blue line before firing a point blank wrist shot over the right shoulder of Bishop to give Buffalo a 1-0 lead. Rasmus Ristolainen and Johan Larsson picked up assists on the goal, giving the rookies points in back-to-back nights for the first time in their careers. Buffalo doubled its advantage at the 14:07 mark when Zemgus Girgensons stripped Kostka deep in the Tampa Bay zone, and Christian Ehrhoffs slap shot was redirected into the goal by Hodgson. Girgensons played his first game since missing 11 with a lower-body injury. The lead wouldnt last the rest of the period. Tampa Bay picked up its first goal on Killorns shot that beat Matt Hackett between the legs. Killorns 16th of the season came at the 17:52 mark, and Stamkos scored the tying goal with 14 seconds to play. Bishop was called upon to make a pair of trio of stops four minutes into the second period, as he stopped Tyler Ennis once and Brian Flynn twice before Victor Hedman took a penalty for forcing the net off the moorings. Then came the Stamkos own-goal, and Conacher was given credit for it as the last Sabres player to touch the puck. Conacher was traded from Tampa Bay to Ottawa along with a fourth-round pick for Bishop in April 2013. Bishop recounted watching the puck go in the net from the bench. "It was kinda funny, actually," Bishop said. "One of those things that just happened, thats the first time Ive ever seen it live." Trailing 3-2 and already on the power play, Tampa Bay received a 60-second two-man advantage when Mike Weber took a cross-checking penalty. Its the sort of play Sabres interim head coach Ted Nolan is trying to eliminate from his young team. "You want to see how certain people react," Nolan said. "The one penalty we take to make it 5-on-3, theres no need to cross-check someone in the back of the head twice. Thats just a bad, bad penalty." The Lightning only needed 52 seconds to capitalize. Playing in front of family and friends, Rochester, N.Y., native Callahan tapped in a cross-crease pass from Teddy Purcell to tie it at 3 at 10:07. "I was a Sabres fan, so its definitely nice to come in here and play," Callahan said. The Sabres had several shots at a winning goal with just over five minutes to play, but Bishop made several saves before referee Dave Jackson lost sight of the puck and blew his whistle. Two minutes later, Larssons attempt at an empty net was deflected out of play by Eric Brewers outreached stick. Drew Stafford took a hooking penalty in overtime, and Stamkos walked in from the point to put the winning goal past Hackett. NOTES: Tampa Bay outshot Buffalo 33-28. ... The start of the game was delayed 10 minutes as the Sabres inducted goaltender Dominik Hasek into their Hall of Fame ... Ville Leino missed the game with an undisclosed illness. He left Thursdays 6-1 loss to Nashville after feeling light-headed. Dedryck Boyata Jersey .com) - The Winnipeg Jets got over one hurdle by snapping their longest losing streak of the season. Marouane Fellaini Belgium Jersey . - Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors will coach the Western Conference in the All-Star Game on Feb. http://www.soccerbelgiumteamonline.com/Vincent-Kompany-UEFA-European-Belgium-Jersey/ . They signed their first kicker. Ottawa inked Nick Setta, a 32-year-old native of Lockport, Illinois, to a contract. Youri Tielemans Jersey . The 30-year-old Kottaras served as Kansas Citys backup catcher last season after being claimed off waivers from Oakland in January. Adnan Januzaj Jersey .S. President Barack Obama saluted the Stanley Cup winning Chicago Blackhawks at the White House on Monday -- a rare moment for a president hungry to see more victorious teams from his hometown.TORONTO -- Whether or not the Brooklyn Nets purposefully set themselves up to face the Raptors, Toronto coach Dwane Casey warns: Be careful what you wish for. The Raptors make their first playoff appearance in six years when they host the Nets in Game 1 on Saturday -- and the opening-round series is already contentious before it has even tipped off. The Nets seemed to have been angling for this particular matchup, apparently believing their veteran experience will win out over a young, inexperienced Raptors squad. "It would tick me off if that was the case. . . If they did, sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for," Casey said. "For us, we were going to take whoever came to us, whether it was Brooklyn or Washington or Charlotte. We were prepared for all three teams." Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri echoed his coachs sentiments. "Good for them," Ujiri said. "You know what? We havent lost one -- I know I havent and I can sense from the players -- second of sleep worrying about the Brooklyn Nets. At the end of the day if we want to be a good team, we have to play good teams. Were not hoping for anybody. Were in the playoffs. You have to play. "They can do whatever they want. Well be right here." The Nets lost four of five games down the stretch, and Brooklyn coach Jason Kidd sat his starters for Wednesdays season-finale -- a whopping 29-point loss to Cleveland -- fuelling chatter the Nets were tanking in order to drop to the sixth seed, pitting them against Toronto rather than Chicago. If they were insulted by suggestions the Nets preferred to play them, the Raptors werent saying Thursday. "Man, weve had a chip on our shoulder all year. We dont care. It aint going to stop now," said Raptors all-star DeMar DeRozan. "The same chip we had before the season even started, weve got it now. Nothings going to change, it dont matter who were playing against. At the end of the day its a playoff team. Only the good teams make the playoffs, right? Youre going to have to play somebody good so it dont matter to us." The Raptors (48-34) and Nets (44-3 Cool

split their four games during a season that saw Toronto win the Atlantic Division title and set a franchise record for victories. Raptors sophomore Terrence Ross added fuel to the fire -- unknowingly he said --about a month ago when he said he hoped for a Toronto-Brooklyn matchup. That prompted Nets centre Andray Blatche to tell the Daily News: "You better be careful what tree you bark up. He better be careful." Ross said his comment was both blown out of proportion and misinterpreted. "I said I wanted to have Brooklyn because, looking up to those guys when I was younger. . . Paul Pierce, KG (Kevin Garnett), Joe Johnson. . . so getting a chance to play with them would be like an honour," the 23-year-old Ross said Thursday. "Everyone kind of ran with it, took their own thing, whatever, thats what happens when youre in the playoffs. "But thats who we have now and I guess I did give that comment (and get) what I asked for." There is a massive discrepancy in playoff experience between the two teams, and its why many are picking the Nets to knock out the No. 3-seeded Raptorss.dddddddddddd Pierce alone -- with 136 playoff appearances -- has played in almost as many post-season games as the entire Raptors roster combined. "Were all in the same league, man. Honestly, thats how I look at it," DeRozan said, sounding exasperated by the suggestion. "Credit to them, they did what they did but we played against guys who are experienced all season, honestly." The 24-year-old DeRozan has zero playoff experience, but rolled his eyes when asked how long it will take to adjust to the pace of the post-season. "It aint like its rocket science or nothing. Everybody keeps talking to me, bringing it up like its rocket science or Ive got to know trigonometry or something," DeRozan said. "You just figure it out. You just go out there. Ive been playing this game long enough, Ive been in the league long enough, been in a lot of situations. So it shouldnt be hard." Longtime NBA coach Jeff Van Gundy, now an NBA television analyst, weighed in on the Brooklyn tanking storyline in a conference call Thursday, saying the Nets "absolutely tried to get to (the Raptors) by resting their guys." "People for some reason think Toronto is a better matchup," Van Gundy said. "I love watching the Raptors play." Van Gundy had kind words for Casey, who worked under a new GM this season in Ujiri, and saw his team thrive after the blockbuster seven-player deal in December that sent Rudy Gay to Sacramento. "I think Dwane Casey has gone through a lot of upheaval in his team in Toronto as far as roster changes, management changes, and hes handled himself with such dignity and class, and hes got his team playing so hard and so well together," Van Gundy said. "I just think they have to keep doing what theyve been doing, competing hard, playing together, big guys controlling the paint, and theyve got a tough matchup. "I like the Raptors a lot. I think theyve had a remarkable season led by a remarkable coach, and I think theyve got a great shot at advancing to the second round." Before Thursdays practice, the Raptors sat down to watch the 60-second "We the North" commercial thats part of the clubs new ad campaign. The Great White North is embraced and the Ontario capital takes centre stage in the video that kicked off a massive franchise rebrand that will continue over the next two years. Ujiri said Canadian fans -- and especially those in Toronto -- will embrace the Raptors during this long-awaited playoff run. "I think they want to make that building on Saturday and whenever we play here a living hell for those teams," Ujiri said. "Its what Ive said from Day 1 -- it should be a disadvantage to come and play here. "We The North, for me, its who we are. Enough of all of these excuses of weather and enough of all of these excuses for players who didnt want to be there. For me, thats all crap. Were moving forward. We hope Canada can stand tall, the Toronto Raptors can stand tall and we can be who we are. "Were proud to be a team in Canada. Were not apologetic to anybody or any players that left or anything that happened in the past. We are who we are. Were going to move forward. Were going to grow. Were going to win." ' ' '

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