3 Takeaways: Sabres 4, Islanders 3

The New York Islanders rallied in the third period to tie the game, but could not complete the comeback, falling 4-3 to the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center.
John Tavares, Ross Johnston and Anders Lee scored as the Islanders fought back from a 3-0 deficit to draw even in the third, but Sam Reinhart's (1G, 2A) go-ahead goal at 15:46 held up as the game-winner for the Sabres. Jack Eichel, Evan Rodrigues and Ryan O'Reilly also scored for Buffalo. Robin Lehner made 26 saves in the win, while Jaroslav Halak made 18 saves in the loss.

The loss keeps the Islanders at 58 points and out of an Eastern Conference Wild Card spot, as Columbus (58 points) holds two games in hand.
Here are three takeaways from Thursday's game:

1. ISLES CLEAN UP DEFENSIVELY, BUT MISTAKES PROVE COSTLY:

Going into Thursday's game the Islanders were collectively focused on cutting down their shots allowed. They limited the Sabres to just 22 shots - 17 at even strength - after three straight games of allowing 47 or more and 20 straight games of allowing at least 30.
"It's very frustrating. We cleaned it up and played hard," Head Coach Doug Weight said. "We gave up 20 shots, probably six chances, got the puck in… We deserved better. It's one of those games."

The Sabres converted their limited chances, including two goals on four shots in the first period. Jack Eichel and Evan Rodrigues scored on Buffalo's first two shots of the game, with Eichel beating Halak off the far post off the rush at 7:41, while Rodrigues potted a rebound off the end boards that slid under the Isles goalie at 13:21 of the first period.
Ryan O'Reilly deflected a Rasmus Ristolainen shot for a power-play goal at 7:18 of the second and, despite carrying the play, the Islanders found themselves in a 3-0 hole.
"It's one of those things where it's a couple shots, a couple bad breaks and you're down 2-0," Lee said.
"They capitalized more on their opportunities than ours," Tavares said. "We had our chances."

2. ISLES RALLY TO TIE IT, BUT LOSE IT LATE

After falling behind 3-0, the Islanders rallied back to tie the score 3-3. The Islanders got a pair of goals from their big guns in Tavares and Lee, who co-lead the team with 28 goals, and one from an unlikely source, as Johnston netted his second career goal in his fifth career game.
Tavares got the Islanders on the board midway through the second period, going to the net after being dumped in the corner by Marco Scandella, fishing out a Thomas Hickey rebound and stuffing it past Lehner.
Johnston made it 3-2 at 7:30 of the third period, rifling a shot upstairs past Lehner from some chaos in the slot. The game felt like it was turning in the Islanders' favor, as Lee collected a friendly bounce off the end boards and potted it past Lehner at the side of the net at 14:33.
At that point the Islanders look destined to at least take a point out of the affair, but Reinhart swept home a rebound 1:13 later for the winner. The preceding rally made it that much harder to stomach postgame.
"After spotting them a couple in the first period we knew we were in a hole and had to battle back," Lee said. "We tie it up late in the third and obviously when you do that and come back and battle and leave with zero points, especially the way things have been going, this one doesn't sit well at all."

3. TWO POINTS LOST:

Losing the game hurt in the immediate, but losing two points to a struggling team is what will stick with the Islanders, who had a chance to move back into the playoff picture with a point Thursday. As the Eastern Conference playoff race remains airtight, Weight had set a goal of at least nine or 10 points during this six-games in nine night stretch, so going 0-for-1 was not how the coach envisioned starting this key stretch.
"We can't afford to lose hockey games," Weight said.
The Islanders get another chance at two points on Friday night when they take on the Detroit Red Wings at Barclays Center. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.