Eichel extends point streak to 16, Sabres fall to Islanders in OT

UNIONDALE, N.Y.-- Jack Eichel extended his point streak to 16 games, but the Buffalo Sabres lost to the New York Islanders 3-2 in overtime at Nassau Coliseum on Saturday.

Anthony Beauvillier scored with 1:56 left in overtime for New York after Eichel scored a power-play goal with 1:46 remaining in the third period, roofing a loose puck in the goal crease over Semyon Varlamov to tie the game 2-2.
Eichel assisted on Victor Olofsson's goal for Buffalo (16-11-7), which had won three in a row. Linus Ullmark made 22 saves.
***WATCH: [All Sabres vs. Islanders highlights*]
Eichel has 29 points (15 goals, 14 assists) during his NHL career-high streak, which is the longest in the League this season.
"It's unfortunate; it's a tough turnover by me in the overtime there," Eichel said. "They obviously capitalized. It's frustrating not to get two points. I thought we worked really hard tonight."

Beauvillier, who also had two assists, won it when he got the puck near his blue line after a turnover by Eichel, skated in alone and put a wrist shot past Ullmark for his 10th goal of the season.
"We're a veteran team here, we have a lot of leadership," Beauvillier said. "As soon as the third period was over, we just kind of said, 'Let's take the second point.' Stuff like that happens in a game. They scored late. We did a good job just coming back and staying focused."
Michael Dal Colle and Jordan Eberle scored for New York (22-7-2), which has won three straight and is 12-0-1 in its past 13 home games.

Varlamov, who has alternated starts with Thomas Greiss since the start of the season, made 33 saves; he has won his past four starts and has allowed six goals over that span.
"Right now, I look at the stats … tell me who should I decide on?" Islanders coach Barry Trotz said of his goalies. "They're virtually identical and at a high level. Nothing wrong with that.
"It's a strength of the New York Islanders. If it's someone else's weakness, too bad for them. We're good with it."
Eberle scored at 4:50 of the third period when he took a pass from Brock Nelson and put a wrist shot from the edge of the right face-off circle past Ullmark to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead. It was his third goal in 21 games this season.
Olofsson tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 6:11 of the second period. With Nelson in the box for holding the stick, Olofsson one-timed Rasmus Dahlin's pass in the right circle. Eichel got the secondary assist to extend his point streak.

"He's worked so hard for this," Sabres coach Ralph Krueger said. "Nothing's been given to him here. What I see in his game is that he feels confident in the defensive structure that we have and that he also works his way into that very hard without the puck, and somehow it's giving him less pressure maybe on the offense because we aren't taking as many chances against.
"He's just been outstanding. His work ethic and his skill set [that] we all know about, it's exciting. As a complete player that he is right now, he's an excellent captain for us."
Dal Colle gave New York a 1-0 lead at 5:11 of the first period. Beauvillier chased down a loose puck behind the Sabres net and fed Dal Colle in front for his second goal of the season.
"He's been playing confident," Nelson said of Beauvillier. "He's not overthinking things, he's just going out there and playing and having fun. He's a big part of the offense."

They said it

"I thought we competed our hearts out. I thought we played really well. Penalty kill was great; special teams was good for us, the power play stepped up there twice. Linus made some great saves. That's a really, really good hockey team." -- Sabres captain Jack Eichel
"Obviously, we've played at the Barclays Center for [four] years, so we're comfortable there. Now playing here, I think we're comfortable in both buildings; they're both our home. We try and take advantage of that." -- Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock

Need to know

Buffalo was 2-for-2 on the power play; New York went 0-for-4. … Olofsson has a three-game point streak (two goals, two assists); he has three goals in his past five games. … The Islanders have won eight in a row at Nassau Coliseum. … Dal Colle did not play after the first period because of an upper-body injury. Trotz did not have an update. … Islanders defenseman Nick Leddy (lower body) missed his third straight game. … Eberle extended his point streak to three games (one goal, three assists).

What's next

Sabres: At the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVAS, TSN4, NHL.TV)
Islanders: Host the Nashville Predators on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; MSG+, FS-TN, NHL.TV)