Buffalo Sabres left wing Jeff Skinner (53), defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin and right wing Alex Tuch (89) celebrate Lyubushkin’s overtime goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning in an NHL game Thursday in Tampa, Fla. AP photo

TAMPA, Fla. — Ilya Lyubushkin scored a short-handed goal 1:41 into overtime, helping Tage Thompson and the Buffalo Sabres beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-5 on Thursday night.

With Thompson scoring three times in his fourth hat trick of the season, Buffalo led 5-3 early in the third period. After Tampa Bay rallied, the Sabres got the win when Lyubushkin beat Andrei Vasilevskiy on a breakaway for his first goal of the season.

Zemgus Girgensons and Jack Quinn also scored for Buffalo, and Eric Comrie made 36 saves.

The Sabres are in a six-team battle for the two wild-card playoff berths in the Eastern Conference. They ended a seven-game losing streak at Amalie Arena.

Thompson put Buffalo ahead 2-1 in the second period by scoring on the power play, and then made it 3-1 at 12:20 when he took a pass from Jeff Skinner and beat Vasilevskiy on a breakaway. He scored his career-high 39th goal 6:18 into the third, giving the Sabres a 5-3 lead.

But Tampa Bay made it 5-4 when Anthony Cirelli scored at 8:33, and then tied it with 5:06 remaining when Ross Colton scored a power-play goal.

Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman and Braydon Point also scored for Tampa Bay. Vasilevskiy made 17 saves but his 12-game home winning streak and his personal six-game win streak against the Sabres both ended.

The Lightning took a 1-0 lead 2:19 into the game when Stamkos beat Comrie with a wrist shot on a 2-on-1 rush. But the Sabres tied it at 11:41 on their first shot on goal; Rasmus Dahlin’s shot from the left circle hit Girgensons’ skate in the slot and slid through Vasilevskiy’s five-hole.

UP NEXT

Sabres: Visit Florida on Friday.

Lightning: Play the first of back-to-back road games at Detroit on Saturday.