After stumbling on a trip through Western Canada, the New York Islanders look to snap a two-game losing skid on Tuesday when they visit the Buffalo Sabres.
New York dropped a 3-1 decision to the Edmonton Oilers on Friday before falling 5-2 against the Calgary Flames the following night.
The Sabres ended a three-game losing streak Sunday, when Jeff Skinner scored a career-high four goals in a 5-3 win over the host Montreal Canadiens.
The Islanders, who made the NHL semifinals each of the last two seasons, enter Tuesday’s game 17 points out of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. If they are unable to make a dash into the playoff picture, they may look back on the trip to Canada as a symbolic end of a star-crossed campaign.
The Islanders opened the trip last Wednesday by scoring five goals in the first period of a 6-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks before falling to the Oilers and Flames.
On Saturday night, coach Barry Trotz acknowledged the Islanders may have been feeling the effects of the back-to-back set.
“I can’t tell you a percentage, but it is a little bit of a factor,” Trotz said. “Some of the goals are puck management. A couple of our decisions weren’t great. But some guys didn’t have legs.”
In addition, the Islanders played without a backup goaltender Saturday after scheduled starter Semyon Varlamov was placed in COVID-19 protocol.
Varlamov is the 19th player to enter protocol this season for New York, whose season was paused amidst an outbreak in late November that occurred during an 11-game losing streak. With Varlamov quarantined in Canada, New York on Monday recalled Cory Schneider from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League to serve as an emergency backup for Ilya Sorokin.
“We’ll go by all of the regulations,” Trotz said. “Varlamov was tested (Sunday) again, he’s in that window of the Canadian government right now. … That window is all based on coming up with a negative test.”
Said Islanders center Jean-Gabriel Pageau: “It has happened to us all year. It’s nothing different.”
The career game for Skinner provided the Sabres a highlight in what has turned into another lost season in a protracted rebuild. Buffalo, which is on pace to miss the playoffs for an 11th straight season, has won back-to-back games just twice since a 3-0-0 start.
The four-goal game — the first by a Sabres player since former captain Jack Eichel scored four in a 4-2 win over the Ottawa Senators on Nov. 16, 2019 — also snapped a drought for Skinner. He hadn’t scored in his previous five games after recording seven goals in his previous nine contests.
“Anytime you can contribute to the team’s success, it’s a good feeling,” Skinner said. “It’s why you play the game. To be able to contribute to a win today is a good feeling and you take that into the next game to try to do it again.”
–Field Level Media