Buffalo Sabres Beat New York Islanders 3-2 In a Shootout

The Sabres beat the Islanders 3-2 in a shootout after the Islanders scored a late goal to tie the game. The Islanders showed some grit against the Sabres, but ultimately came away with a loser point. A team gets a loser point when it loses in overtime or a shootout. It gets a point, but loses the game.

The Sabres are one of the worst teams in the National Hockey League, but they are pretty hot. Tage Thompson scored for the Sabres, his sixth consecutive game doing so. Do you think the Islanders should have beaten the Sabres?

Sabres Beat Islanders Scoring Summary

The Sabres came into this game having won three games in a row. Most recently, they beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-3. Thompson scored in that game, too. As did Josh Norris and Noah Ostlund. As did Josh Norris and Ryan McLeod. He is a scoring summary from the game.

In the first period, Rasmus Dahlin scored in the first period. The beautiful goal was the only goal of the first period. The Sabres led 1-0. In the second period, Thompson scored for the Sabres, giving them a 2-0 lead. Then Mathew Barzal scored for the Islanders to cut the Buffalo lead to 2-1.

In the third period, Emil Heineman scored for the Islanders with 29 seconds left to tie the game at 2. The goal was scored on the power play after the Islanders pulled their goaltender.

News and Notes

• In this game, the Islanders had 34 shots, and Buffalo had 32. 
• While the shots between the Islanders and the Sabres, the Islanders were more dominant in the face-off circle and on hits; they won fifty-five percent of the face-offs and out-hit the Sabres 25-18.
• There were only seven penalties in the game. Both teams scored power-play goals.
• David Rittich started in the net for the Islanders. Rittich is 7-3-1 this season. He has a 2.59 goals against average. He also has a .905 save percentage. His statistics are very good for a backup.
• Anders Lee has 298 career goals, so he is two goals away from a milestone.
• Barzal scored a point in the game against the Sabres. He has scored for the sixth straight game. He had a secondary assist on Lee’s goal. This is the 10th year he has ranked second on the Islanders in points.
• Horvat missed the game again, his fifth consecutive. Clearly, Barzal’s point-scoring streak is meant to compensate for the absence of Horvat.
• This was the first of three games between the Islanders and the Buffalo this season. The Islanders were 1-5-2 in their last eight games in Buffalo, so it is no surprise they lost this game in overtime.
• Jarmo Kekäläinen was hired by the Sabres on Monday as General Manager, replacing Kevyn Adams. It seems the new General Manager has lit a fire under Buffalo.

White Hot Buffalo Sabres

One advantage to writing an article so long after a game is played is that the author can see how a team did between the game you are writing about and the current time. Buffalo is white hot. They have now won seven games in a row. It is the first time in seven years they have won seven games in a row. Since beating the Islanders in a shootout, they beat the New Jersey Devils and the Ottawa Senators.

Conclusion

This was a winnable game for the Islanders; however, they got a loser point. The Sabres are not a good team, but they are on a five-game winning streak. Even with the loss, the Islanders are still in third place in the Metropolitan Division.