Houser, ECHL goalie, wins second straight for Sabres against Islanders

BUFFALO --Michael Houser made 45 saves and won his second straight start for the Buffalo Sabres, 4-3 in a shootout against the New York Islanders at KeyBank Center on Tuesday.

The 28-year-old won his NHL debut against the Islanders on Monday, when he made 34 saves in a 4-2 victory. Houser hadn't started a professional game since March 7, 2020, with Cincinnati of the ECHL.
"In my career I've usually played better on the second part of a back to back, just, you know, feeling that first game and then kind of using it," Houser said. "I know they say momentum doesn't carry over game to game, but the way that you feel in net could, I think, at least.
"So I felt way more comfortable early and I felt like that was mostly due to playing [Monday] night, getting the jittery legs out of the way and all that, and I felt like I was sharp and I was quick early."
Anders Bjork scored twice and had the only goal in the shootout for the Sabres (15-32-7), who trailed 3-1 in the second period.
Cal Clutterbuck had a goal and an assist for the Islanders (31-16-6), who blew a two-goal lead for the second straight game. Ilya Sorokin made 28 saves.
New York remained in fourth place in the MassMutual East Division, one point behind the Boston Bruins, who lost 4-3 in overtime at the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday. Boston has played one fewer game.
"It was better," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "I liked that we were playing north, we weren't messing around. I thought in the second period, we didn't recognize danger. We had three guys really tired. Their two guys came off fresh, and then we just mismanage the puck and I think they ended up with about five chances and a goal. That can't happen."
Bjork made it 3-2 on a redirection of Colin Miller's point shot at 17:37 of the second period, then tied it 3-3 with a shot from the right face-off circle at 10:56 of the third.

Houser made saves against Jordan Eberle, Anthony Beauvillier and Oliver Wahlstrom in the shootout. Bjork scored in the second round on his first NHL shootout attempt.
"I think we did a good job bringing energy," Bjork said. "Both games, we didn't start the way we wanted exactly, especially tonight, I thought. But we responded well and competed for 60 minutes. I think that was extremely important."
Cody Eakin gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead from the edge of the left circle at 15:59 of the first period.
Beauvillier responded 26 seconds later with a one-timer from the hash marks at 16:25 to tie it 1-1.
Ryan Pulock gave New York a 2-1 lead when his point shot beat a screened Houser at 3:44 of the second period.
Clutterbuck made it 3-1 with a shorthanded goal at 9:16 after Sabres defenseman Jacob Bryson lost his balance in the neutral zone.

"That's kind of the strength of our team; when we do get up, we're able to lock things down," Pulock said. "Obviously, we failed at that these last two games. We'll look at it, we'll clean that up, and we'll be ready."
Houser saved 20 of 21 shots in the first period and all 18 he faced in the third.
"It really didn't feel like 45 shots, or whatever it was," Houser said. "The first period, there was obviously a little bit more work. As the game went on, it seemed like it kind of slowed down a little bit."
Islanders center Mathew Barzal was scratched for the first time in his NHL career. He had played 284 consecutive games, dating to the start of the 2017-18 season.
"It's never an easy conversation, but I don't have a lot of regard for personal milestones, games played and all that," Trotz said. "I believe all in the team stuff, so I think Mat's a good pro. He's going to be a big part of what we're doing. I'm not too worried about that. I just want to get him in the right place and feeling good so that he's a good player for us in the playoffs here."
NOTES: Islanders forwards Matt Martin and Leo Komarov were also scratched. … New York defenseman Adam Pelech played his 300th NHL game. … Houser is the first Sabres goalie to win his first two starts since
Mika Noronen
on Oct. 5 and 7, 2000. … It was the first time Buffalo has won consecutive games when trailing by more than one goal since Nov. 17 and 19, 2018, against the Minnesota Wild and Pittsburgh Penguins.