Islanders shut out for second straight game in loss to Sabres
Islanders defenseman Mike Reilly attempts to block a shot by Sabres left wing Jeff Skinner during the first period of an NHL game Thursday in Buffalo, N.Y. Credit: AP/Jeffrey T. Barnes
BUFFALO — This four-game road trip, which started with promise in California against two of the NHL’s weaker clubs, stalled once the Islanders started playing tougher competition. And it ended with a dud.
“We were flat tonight,” coach Patrick Roy said. “We didn’t play a good game.”
The Sabres, dominating in every way, sent the Islanders home with a 4-0 defeat on Thursday night at KeyBank Center. They’ve been shut out in back-toback games and have not scored a goal in 121:48.
The Islanders’ inability to connect on passes kept them from generating dangerous chances.
“If we want to be successful, we need to be connected,” Jean-Gabriel Pageau told Newsday. “We need the execution. We’re still in a good position. We need to get the job done, and for that to happen, we just need to execute and be better.”
The Islanders (29-22-14), who went 0-for-4 on the power play, ended the trip a disappointing 2-2-0 after opening with a 7-2 win over the hapless Sharks and a 6-1 victory over the slightly better Ducks. But Monday’s 3-0 loss to the playoff-bound Kings snapped the Islanders’ winning streak at a season-high six games.
Still, the Islanders retained the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot as the Red Wings — who have the same 72 points but have played one extra game — lost their seventh straight, falling to the visiting Coyotes, 4-1. The Islanders remained four points behind the third-place Flyers — who have played two extra games — in the Metropolitan Division after they lost to the visiting Maple Leafs, 6-2.
“It’s OK, two of four,” Roy said of the road trip. “Three of four would have been a great road trip. That’s the beauty of this league; it makes you humble pretty fast. You’re flying high, six in a row, you think you’re under control and boom, you lost two and now you’ve got to regroup.”
The Islanders will face the Senators, next-to-last in the conference, on Saturday afternoon at UBS Arena.
“Tonight we just weren’t as crisp as we needed to be,” Anders Lee said. “It just wasn’t a good game by us at all tonight. Let’s get home, let’s regroup a little bit.”
Ilya Sorokin made 33 saves and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 21 shots for the Sabres (32-30-5), facing only 11 through the first two periods.
The Sabres, who swept their three-game homestand and moved within three points of a playoff spot, took control with a three-goal second period.
Victor Olofsson’s power-play one-timer from below the right circle with Lee off for interference opened the scoring at 4:28 of the second period.
Dylan Cozens, left wide open low in the slot to knock in the rebound of defenseman Connor Clifton’s initial shot, made it 2-0 at 8:15.
Zach Benson deflected defenseman Henri Jokiharju’s shot from the blue line to give the Sabres a three-goal edge at 9:41, with the goal surviving a challenge from Roy for goalie interference.
Benson added an empty-netter at 15:06 of the third period.
The Sabres also played a dominant first period, kept from taking the lead only by Sorokin’s early brilliance.
The Islanders did not get their first shot until defenseman Adam Pelech sent a wrister on Luukkonen from the blue line at 10:12. Sorokin made a stretching glove save on Peyton Krebs’ shot off an odd-man rush at 14:13 and also stopped Jordan Greenway on an odd-man rush at 17:39 after defenseman Noah Dobson whiffed on the puck at the right point in the Sabres’ zone.
The Islanders generated five power-play shots in 7:39 of man-advantage time. “I feel like we may be complicating things a little too much,” Roy said. “That was the message by Mac [assistant coach John MacLean] before the game. Have things simple and just move that puck quick. But tonight, for some reason, our legs were not there, our execution was not there.”
Notes & quotes: The Sabres have beaten the Islanders a franchise-record seven straight times at home . . . Lee fought Clifton at 8:08 of the third period after Clifton’s hard check on Pierre Engvall . . . Matt Martin logged 6:28 with three hits after missing the last game with a lingering lower-body injury . . . Forwards Hudson Fasching and Oliver Wahlstrom and defenseman Samuel Bolduc were the healthy scratches.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
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