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A big week for the New York Islanders started with a big result, as the Isles scored a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres at UBS Arena on Tuesday night.
Josh Bailey (1G, 1A), Casey Cizikas (1G, 1A) and Hudson Fasching (1G, 1A) provided the offense for the Islanders (74 points), who put a little breathing room between them and the Sabres (68), the team that entered the game directly behind them in the wild card standings with three games in hand.

"It's a big, big win," Head Coach Lane Lambert said. "Every one is an important game and certainly to get off on the right foot this week is huge for us."
Dylan Cozens and Kyle Okposo scored for the Sabres, who suffered their second straight loss.

Fasching propels Islanders past Sabres at home

FASCHING, CIZIKAS AND BAILEY LEAD THE WAY:

A makeshift line led the way for the Islanders on Tuesday night, as Hudson Fasching, Casey Cizikas and Josh Bailey each tallied a goal and an assist.
The line didn't initially start the game together, but was assembled by Lambert after the Islanders found themselves down 1-0 on a Dylan Cozens goal in the second period, a move that turned out to be a turning point.
"[Casey] was outstanding tonight," Lambert said. "His motor was running and he was all over the puck. Fasching does the same thing. He's good at protecting the puck and I thought Josh did a great job. He didn't play a whole lot in the first period, but I thought he did a great job of coming in and clearly he scored a huge goal for us."
Cizikas tied the score 1-1, netting his fifth goal of the season and first since Jan. 14, knocking in Fasching's feed from below the goal line that caromed off Owen Power's skate. The Islanders gained momentum off the Cizikas goal, and came inches from taking a lead as Fasching put a rebound off the post about two-and-a-half minutes later.

BUF@NYI: Cizikas evens game in 2nd period

Buffalo had the next shot after Cizikas' goal, but the Islanders rattled off eight straight after that, holding the Sabres without a shot for nearly seven minutes. In addition to Fasching's shot off the post, Bo Horvat ripped a one-timer off the crossbar on an Islanders power play.
"As a group, you can feel that on the bench," Cizikas said. "Whenever a line has a good shift, you want to continue that momentum. You want to keep pushing forward and I thought we did that for the second half of the second. We kept pushing forward, we kept going line after line and taking it to them."
The momentum carried over into the third, as the Islanders took a 2-1 lead. The Fasching-Cizikas-Bailey line struck for the second time, with Bailey poking in a Cizikas rebound at 1:51 of the third.
Bailey's goal was the Islanders 14th third period tally in the past nine games - improving the Isles run to 14-0 run over that span. The run was finally broken as Kyle Okposo tied the score at 4:59 with a long wrister through traffic, the first third period goal allowed since Valentine's Day.
Tied 2-2, the new-look line pushed through again, as Fasching, who skated 13:58 with a goal, an assist, three shots, six attempts, two blocked shots and a takeaway, scored the eventual winner at 7:37. Scott Mayfield's shot deflected off Bailey, then Fasching's shin and in and while the goal was reviewed for a kicking motion, it eventually stood and the Isles locked it down from there.
When it was all said and done, the line was rewarded in the three stars, as Fasching was named the game's first star, Bailey the second and Cizikas the third.
"It feels great," Fasching said. "You just want to contribute and try to help the team win games. And obviously it's a big game, so it feels awesome."

BUF@NYI: Fasching deflects in goal in 3rd period

ISLES DOMINATE AT FACE-OFF DOT:

The Islanders dominated at the dot on Tuesday, winning 32-of-50 face-offs, aka 64%.
ISLANDERS 3, SABRES 2
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Postgame: Lambert
Postgame: Fasching
Postgame: Bailey
Postgame: Cizikas
KINGER'S CALLS
Cizikas ties it
Bailey's backhand
Fasching's GWG
Bo Horvat won 15 of his team-high 25 draws, while Brock Nelson won 8-of-12 (67%) and Cizikas won six of his eight (75%). Cizikas' goal started with the center winning an offensive zone draw, so there was an A-to-B line from a face-off to a goal.
Tuesday also marked the second straight game the Isles won over 64% of their face-offs, an impressive feat considering JG Pageau missed his 10th straight game on Tuesday.
"With Pageau out it's really called on a lot of us to step up and be put in certain situations to get key draws," Cizikas said. "We're battling out there and when you wind draws, you have possession and that's something that we've done well so far."

STANDINGS IMPLICATIONS:

The Islanders took care of their own business on Tuesday, moving six points ahead of the Sabres. That effectively guards the Isles against Buffalo's games in hand, meaning the Sabres can't leapfrog them just based on an even number of games played.
"It's huge," Fasching said. "They're right behind us and it's kind of a weird playoff race with us not having games in hand, but the other way around. We're excited and we're playing well and we're just trying to keep that momentum and keep rolling."
The rest of the results weren't as kind to the Islanders. The Pittsburgh Penguins came back from a 4-0 deficit against the Columbus Blue Jackets to win 5-4 in overtime. The Isles are still one point ahead of the Penguins, but Pittsburgh holds three games in hand.
The Florida Panthers also picked up a regulation win on Tuesday, beating the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1. The Panthers are four points back of the Islanders with one game in hand.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders' big week continues as they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night in the Steel City. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.