Sabres hope to take lessons from loss to Islanders

Kyle Okposo described the pregame scene on Wednesday as having felt a bit like the preseason, with an assortment of familiar and unfamiliar faces filling the Sabres' dressing room.
The Sabres had six players enter COVID-19 protocol ahead of their back-to-back set against the New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders. Replacing them were five players from Rochester who had a combined 48 games of NHL experience (34 of which belonged to Arttu Ruotsalainen) and veteran winger Alex Tuch, returning from a five-month layoff due to offseason shoulder surgery.
It is a group that features a whole lot of talent and plenty of promise, but also one that has had little time to gel. They were unable to build momentum in a 4-1 loss to the Islanders inside UBS Arena on Thursday, dropping both games of the back-to-back.

"We have to try and continue to use that depth right now," Okposo said. "It is the way it is. It's a COVID world right now."

The Islanders, off to an uncharacteristic start at 9-12-6, played to the defensively sound identity that carried them to back-to-back semifinal appearances in the past two seasons. They clogged the defensive blue line and limited the Sabres' ability to move the puck cleanly in transition. While the Sabres earned a 37-32 edge in shots, they were held to five high-danger chances at even strength according to Natural Stat Trick.
Mathew Barzal scored New York's first goal on the rush, part of a five-shot first period for the Islanders top centerman. Kiefer Bellows and Anders Lee added goals in the second period to break a 1-1 tie. Noah Dobson buried a shot from the point to stave off any potential comeback in the third.
"Their gaps were really good," Okposo said. "They have great sticks. They got a lot of sticks on pucks and we didn't make clean plays. When you're not doing that, you just got to get it behind them and play simple. We just didn't do that tonight."
Assistant coach Matt Ellis, filling in for Don Granato while he is in COVID protocol, referred to the Islanders as having played a "mature game." It was a valuable experience in that sense for Buffalo's crop of young players getting their first taste of the NHL. Peyton Krebs played his 15th NHL game and second for the Sabres. JJ Peterka and Casey Fitzgerald were playing their second and third games, respectively.

"It's certainly part of our team evolving," Ellis said. "There's no way to sugar coat it. These are great lessons for us to learn. In this league there's not time to sit and hope for things. You take each step as a learning experience and obviously, we'll look at the film. We'll have discussions.
"We'll recalibrate tomorrow in Boston once we go through the video and again, for us, we've had the mentality since day one that it's about getting better every day. There are some lessons from tonight's game that we need to learn from and take with us. Look at how a mature team approaches a game like tonight."
Krebs in particular was given ample experience after moving to a line with Okposo and Victor Olofsson to start the game. The 20-year-old centerman led Sabres forwards in ice time at 17:54, the highest mark of his young career. His linemates combined for 11 shots.
"It took a few periods, definitely, to kind of figure each other out," Okposo said. "I didn't know a ton about his game before last night, to be honest with you. That second period we just got it going where I wanted the puck on his stick as much as possible. He really sees the ice very well. He's able to make little plays and he makes him some passes that are really elite. So, I just found myself distributing to him when I could, trying to get open, and Vic added a nice compliment too."
Reinforcements could be on the way. The NHL recently modified its protocols based on new isolation guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cutting down the isolation period for asymptomatic individuals from 10 days to five. Ellis said prior to the game that nothing had been confirmed, but discussions about players potentially exiting protocol Friday were ongoing.
In any event, the Sabres will hope to use their game Thursday as an important tool for a group of young players just beginning their careers.
"We're a team that's about growing our game, growing our players and getting better on the day to day," Ellis said. "You need to look at those lessons. You need to look at how a team like that approaches a game and you need to take something from it moving forward."

Okposo scores on the power play

Okposo put the Sabres on the board with his third power-play goal of the season, giving him sole possession of the team lead. The goal was also his team-leading 21st point.
Olofsson began the sequence with a shot from the left faceoff circle. Brett Murray, setting a heavy screen in front of goaltender Semyon Varlamov, whacked at the rebound and sent it through the crease for Okposo to bury.

Okposo has seven total goals this season.

Up next

The two-game road trip concludes in Boston on Saturday afternoon. Coverage on MSG begins at 12:30 p.m. The puck drops at 1.