ELMONT, NY — The New York Islanders entered Saturday night’s contest desperate for two points, and that’s exactly what they earned, defeating the Buffalo Sabres 3-0 at UBS Arena.
Patrick Roy announced the Islanders would be playing with 11 forwards and seven defensemen, and the new-look third line of Kyle MacLean, Casey Cizikas, and Oliver Wahlstrom got to work early. Cizikas and MacLean provided intensity and strong forechecking—features the Islanders have lacked the last few games.
After nine minutes without a Sabres shot, Sorokin had to stand tall and deny Alex Tuch twice from in tight.
With under seven minutes left in the first period, Cizikas made an awkward zone entry before Matt Martin passed the puck to Hudson Fasching. Fasching took a shot at Reimer, and the resulting rebound gave Martin a tap-in to make it 1-0.
However, Lindy Ruff challenged the play for offsides, and an extremely lengthy review from the officials ensued. The Islanders benefited from a challenge on Friday, but the review did not go their way against Buffalo, and Martin’s first of the season was overturned to return the game to 0-0.
The Sabres finished the frame up 10-6 in shots, and the Islanders only went 7-18 in the circle despite leading the league in face-off percentage.
In the opening minute of the second period, Bowen Byram was hit in the visor by a puck and briefly went to the Sabres locker room. Byram returned in under four minutes of game time, but hooked Noah Dobson at 12:57.
Horvat won the face-off, and the Islanders were able to set up in the Sabres’ zone. Kyle Palmieri rifled a pass to Anders Lee, who boxed out Owen Power in front and made no mistake to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead.
The goal came after Roy openly criticized the power play, which is last in the NHL and has failed at key moments.
Only 2:55 later, Alex Romanov made a stretch pass to give Lee and Holmstrom a 2-on-1. Lee elected to pass the puck, and Holmstrom went top shelf to extend the lead to 2-0. This gave Lee his second multi-point effort in as many games.
Dobson gave Buffalo a power play opportunity of their own at the halfway mark as he flipped the puck over the boards for a delay-of-game penalty. However, the Islanders made a strong effort on the kill, and Brock Nelson even managed two shots while short-handed.
New York had a slight 8-7 edge in shots and returned to form in the face-off circle, going 14-21.
Palmieri drew a tripping penalty from Alex Tuch in the first minute of the third period,…