3 Takeaways: Isles Fall to Sabres 3-1 in Buffalo

The New York Islanders made a few lineup changes on Saturday night, but it did not change the result for the better, as they fell 3-1 to the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center.

Noah Dobson scored the lone goal for the Islanders late in the third period, but only after Jeff Skinner (1G, 1A), Mattias Samuelsson and Dylan Cozens built a 3-0 lead for the Sabres. Semyon Varlamov stopped 40 of 43 shots in his season debut, while Eric Comrie stopped 24 of 25 for the Sabres in his season debut.

“We got outplayed and the final result was what it deserved to be,” Kyle Palmieri said. “Varly played a great game and he made some big stops and kept it close and kept us in it, but we probably didn't deserve to be in it.”

ISLES FALL ON SECOND NIGHT OF BACK-TO-BACK SET:

Discipline and puck management were at the top of the list of things the Islanders were looking to shore up after Friday’s 5-4 OT loss to the New Jersey Devils.

The penalty kill was much better, going three-for-three after allowing four power-play goals on Friday, though a penalty 15 seconds into the game set the tone for the Isles, who were forced to defend early and often.

While the Islanders were only credited with five giveaways officially, Head Coach Lane Lambert said he felt his team’s puck management was a pain point in the loss.

“Through the neutral zone, our puck management has to be better,” Lambert said. “That's two nights in a row now where we're trying, the intentions are good, but unintended consequences come along with that. And when you turn the puck over in the neutral zone, certainly against fast teams that transition quickly, then you find yourself back in your own zone and spending way too much time there. So we just have to manage the puck better.”

Frustration and fatigue seemed to set in for the Islanders as Saturday’s game progressed. With the Isles down 1-0 late in the second period, Adam Pelech made an uncharacteristic play, taking himself out of position to throw a big hit on Jeff Skinner. Skinner avoided the hit, which led to an odd-man rush and a Mattias Samuelsson goal to make it 2-0 at 19:23.

There was a little more to the story, as Pelech’s hit on Skinner earlier in the period led to the defenseman’s second-career NHL fight, as Alex Tuch took exception to the hit and jumped Pelech.

The deficit proved to be a steep him to climb on a night where the Islanders were outshot 43-25 and allowed 17 high-danger chances at five-on-five, while generating nine. As the game wore on, the fatigue of two contests which started with an emotionally-charged Metro Division matchup on Friday, in 28 hours appeared to catch up with the Isles. Dylan Cozens eventually made it 3-0, finishing off some pretty passing from Rasmus Dahlin and Jordan Greenway after a Samuel Bolduc was intercepted.  

“Our detail wasn't where it needed to be,” Captain Anders Lee said. “You have to be extremely diligent with the puck and can't give them any freebies when it comes to turnovers. So we had too many of those tonight and they had some sustained pressure.”

The Islanders broke Comrie’s shutout streak with 1:21 to play in the third period, as Noah Dobson’s shot caromed off Connor Clifton’s arm and in late, but that was as close as the Isles came.

VARLAMOV MAKES SEASON DEBUT:

Semyon Varlamov made his season debut on Saturday, stopping 40 shots in the loss.

The result didn’t reflect the type of game the veteran netminder had, as he was thrust into action early with 14 saves – all of Ilya Sorokin’s workload on Tuesday – in the first period alone.

Varlamov bailed out the Islanders on a handful of occasions early, stopping Dylan Cozens off the rush after Buffalo caught New York on a poor first period line change. Varlamov had Cozens’ number again in the second period, outwaiting the forward in a one-on-one situation in front of the net. Cozens eventually scored in the third period on a backdoor tap-in.

Perhaps Varlamov’s best stop saw him shoot across the net to deny a Casey Middelstadt one-timer on a two-on-one in the second period.

Varlamov stopped the first 27 shots he saw on Saturday, but the Sabres eventually broke through, with Jeff Skinner one-timing a Middelstadt feed on a goal that was hard to fault the Isles netminder. Shot 29 also found its way in, as Mattias Samuelsson buried on an odd-man rush to make it 2-0 at 19:23.

WAHLSTROM AND GAUTHIER IN, HOLMSTROM AND FASCHING OUT:

Oliver Wahlstrom and Julien Gauthier drew into the lineup in place of Simon Holmstrom and Hudson Fasching, respectively. Lambert said these moves were to inject some fresh legs into the Islanders lineup on a back-to-back.

Wahlstrom played his first game since suffering a season-ending knee injury on Dec. 27 last season and skated 12:16 with one shot and three hits alongside Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat. Wahlstrom also saw some time (1:18) on the second power play.

“I felt pretty good,” Wahlstrom said. “I felt good those first two periods and the third period came and I was a little tired but that's part of it. I’ve been off for, 10 and a half months, so, just got to just kind of keep getting into it.”

The 23-year-old expressed his gratitude for being able to play his first game in 10 months.

“I was super excited,” Wahlstrom said. “It's been a long road. You know, I can't thank my family, my sister and girlfriend for taking care of me for the whole eight months rehabbing. There are some there's some tough days, but it's it was just good to be back.”

Gauthier drew in for Fasching, skating alongside Anders Lee and JG Pageau. Gauthier was also making his Islanders debut and skated 12:58 with a shot, four hits and a blocked shot.