BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Tampa Bay Lightning know they have a difficult road ahead without captain Steven Stamkos.

They got off to a good start on Thursday night.

Four different players scored and Ben Bishop made 32 saves to lead Tampa Bay to a 4-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. The Lightning (11-6-1) were playing without Stamkos for the first time since he suffered a knee injury Tuesday. The team announced during the game that Stamkos is expected to miss four months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus.

"Obviously it's a huge blow to our team," Bishop said. "You lose your captain and arguably one of the best players in the league. It's a tough pill to swallow. It's just one of those things where you've got to step up. Everyone has to pick up the slack a little bit. ... You've got to go more as a team effort because you can't rely on your big dog to come through. It's got to be a team effort and tonight was a good example."

Stamkos was third in the NHL in points with 20 prior to the injury.

"There's always that emotional first game when you're without your guy," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. "So the problem is that it's not just one game, it's months and we just have to stay consistent. We have to play consistently well, we have to stick to our structure and just give that honest effort every single night."

Alex Killorn had a goal and an assist for the Lightning. Nikita Nesterov, Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point also scored for Tampa Bay, who have won three games in a row.

Bishop was solid between the pipes, especially early on. Bishop's best save came midway early in the second period after a giveaway by the goalie; Bishop's clearance from behind the net fell right to Sabres right winger Kyle Okposo, and Bishop had to dive in front of the empty net to stop a sure goal.

"It was the Ben Bishop show all the way," Cooper said. "He must have made six 10-bell saves in the first few minutes of the game. I don't understand what he was doing (on his giveaway). It's not like he had to make another 10-bell save but I don't know, maybe he had a little bet with Ryan Miller, who knows."

Cody Franson scored the lone goal for Buffalo (5-8-4), who continue to have issues finding the back of the net. Buffalo is last in the league in scoring.

"We've scored 11 goals in the last nine games and you're not going to win many games if any scoring like that," left winger Evander Kane said. "That's the theme. It must be a joke right now. If you score two goals against the Buffalo Sabres, you're going to win the game. And we've got to end that."

Added Okposo: "We're just not scoring goals right now."

Robin Lehner made 34 saves for Buffalo.

Nesterov opened the scoring 8:15 into the game following a terrific setup by center Valtteri Filppula. Filppula made a hard cut toward the middle of the ice before finding Nesterov inside the left circle. Nesterov buried a one-timer for his second goal of the year.

Killorn made it 2-0 at 7:39 of the second off another excellent feed by Filppula. With Sabres right winger Kyle Okposo in the penalty box, the Lightning raced up ice on a 4-on-2 rush. Filppula swiftly skated around Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe before finding Killorn alone in the left circle. Killorn finished the play for his seventh goal of the year.

The Sabres got on the board with 7:10 remaining in the second with a power-play goal of their own. After a deflected pass bounced off the end boards, Franson buried a one-timer from the right circle to make it 2-1. It was the first goal by a Sabres defenseman this season.

Kucherov snuffed any Sabres momentum just before the end of the second period on his ninth goal of the year and fourth in three games. With 17.5 seconds remaining in the period, Kucherov's long shot made it through traffic to give Tampa Bay a 3-1 lead.

Point made it 4-1 with a power-play goal from close range with two minutes remaining.

NOTES: D Anton Stralman (upper body) and D Luke Witkowski were scratched for Tampa Bay. ... C Ryan O'Reilly (middle body), D Dmitry Kulikov (middle body) and D Zach Bogosian (MCL sprain) were scratched for the Sabres. ... The Sabres recalled D Taylor Fedun from the AHL's Rochester Americans. In 14 games for the Americans this season, Fedun is second in AHL defensemen in assists (10) and fourth in points (12). Buffalo assigned D Casey Nelson to Rochester on Wednesday. ... This was the first of four meetings between the two teams this season. Their next meeting is Jan. 12 in Tampa.