John Kreiser
The New York Islanders missed a big chance to help their playoff hopes when they lost 4-3 to the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Tuesday night.
Despite being outplayed by the Sabres for most of the night, they got even at 2-2 when Anders Lee’s pass from the goal line to the right of Buffalo goalie Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen went off the skate of Sabres defenseman Owen Power and into the net with 6:21 left In regulation. But the poor defensive coverage that marred Monday’s 8-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins burned them again when Alex Tuch carried down the left side, circled the net and found a wide-open Peyton Krebs.
With a couple of Isles watching, Krebs snapped a shot past Ilya Sorokin with 3:01 left to put Buffalo ahead 3-2.
“I think Bo (Horvat) or (Matthew) Schafer could have stayed in front of the net and protected there,” coach Patrick Roy said.
Bowen Byram’s empty-netter with 1:42 left turned out to be the game-winner when Brayden Schenn scored with two seconds remaining.
Despite the loss, the Islanders remained third in the Metropolitan Division because only one of the teams they’re jockeying with for a playoff berth won its game. The Penguins moved three points ahead of the Islanders by defeating the reeling Detroit Red Wings 5-1. But the Columbus Blue Jackets, who could have passed them with a win, lost 5-2 at home to the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Red Wings, Philadelphia Flyers and Ottawa Senators, who are also battling to overtake the Islanders in the playoff race, all lost as well.
The Islanders have a welcome two-day break before another back-to-back. They host the Flyers on Friday before visiting Carolina for their last road game on Saturday.
Each team got a power play in the first three minutes, with Carson Soucy going off for high-sticking 41 seconds into the game and Buffalo’s Josh Norris called for interference at 1:31.
The Isles had four of the game’s first six shots before the Sabres began to take control, pushing the tempo and forcing Sorokin to make a handful of fine saves. But Buffalo finally got on the board when Jack Quinn scored a power-play goal at 14:19.
With Adam Pelech sitting out a high-sticking penalty, New York botched a clear at the right point; Casey Cizikas and Jean-Gabriel Pageau appeared to get in each other’s way and wound up losing a puck battle to Norris. He slid the puck to the open left point, where Quinn was entering the play on a line change. No one made a move toward Quinn, who raced into the left circle before snapping a shot past Sorokin for a 1-0 lead.
Sorokin kept the deficit at one just before the 15-minute mark when he denied Brent Malenstyn on a wide-open backhander from the slot after another botched clear. The Sabres held the Islanders without a shot on goal for more than 11 minutes and had the only four high-danger chances in the first 20 minutes, according to Natural Stat Trick. Buffalo finished the period with a 12-6 margin in shots and a 23-11 edge in attempts.
The Sabres continued to control play through the first few minutes of the second period before Anders Lee was awarded a penalty shot at 6:34 after Power slashed him on a breakaway. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made a terrific glove save on Lee’s backhander, but the play appeared to wake up the Isles, who began spending much more time in the Sabres’ zone.
They got a break when defenseman Mattias Samuelsson, under pressure, backhanded the puck into the crowd for a delay of game penalty at 17:41. Ritchie tied the game 16 seconds later, finishing a perfect passing play started by Bo Horvat by taking a feed from Brayden Schenn and scoring into an empty net to make it 1-1. It stayed that way through the end of the period, which saw the Isles outshoot Buffalo 9-7, though the Sabres had a 6-5 edge in high-danger chances.
Lee was unpenalized for a late-period hit that drove Norris’ face into the glass, but he had to answer the bell when ex-Ranger Sam Carrick challenged him after the opening face-off of the third period. Lee threw the former Rangers center to the ice and he went off to the locker room with a shoulder injury. But the play seemed to put a charge into the Sabres – especially after Soucy was sent off for holding at 1:28. Tage Thompson’s power-play goal at 2:40 put Buffalo ahead 3-2.
The fluke goal by Lee got the Islanders even and raised hopes they could go home with at least one point by getting to overtime. Krebs’ goal spoiled those hopes.
Key takeaways after Islanders lose 4-3 to Sabres
Lucky losers/missed opportunity
All things considered, the Isles came out of a discouraging loss about as well as they could have hoped. They ended the night just the way they began it – third in the Metro, a point ahead of Columbus (which owns the second wild card in the East and has played one fewer game), and two points in front of Ottawa, Detroit and Philadelphia – though all three have two games in hand on New York.
None of the contenders plays Wednesday, but all of them are back in action Thursday.
The Islanders looked discombobulated in the second half of the loss to the Penguins and were outplayed by the Sabres for long stretches. The two-day break comes at a good time, but the Monday-Tuesday losses highlighted the Isles’ defensive issues and their erratic special teams, and they have a lot to clean up before the Flyers come to UBS on Friday for the second half of their back-to-back.
Sorokin rebounds
Roy surprised many observers by starting Sorokin one night after he allowed seven goals to the Penguins before being lifted. He wasn’t at fault for any of the three goals scored prior to the empty-netter – and was the biggest reason the Islanders had a chance to win.
“He was outstanding,” Roy said. “He made some really good saves, and unfortunately for us they scored two power-play goals.”
The Sabres had a 12-3 advantage in high-danger chances at even strength, according to Natural Stat Trick (it was 15-9 in all situations). Sorokin was superb in the first period, when the Isles were outplayed and outworked but trailed by just one goal.
He’ll certainly be glad for the two-day break, which might let him play against both the Flyers and Hurricanes.
PK wasn’t OK
The Islanders picked a bad night to give up their first power-play goal in six games – although they faced just six opposition power plays during their previous five games.
Quinn’s goal came after they were outworked, failed to clear the zone and let Quinn stroll down the left side unimpeded. Thompson, one of the NHL’s deadliest shooters, found a soft spot in the middle of the coverage and beat Sorokin – who didn’t see the shot.
With one of the NHL’s poorest power plays, the Islanders can’t afford another bad night by the penalty killers.
