The New York Islanders formula worked so well on Monday night, they ran it back on Tuesday.
Coming off a decisive 3-1 win over the Sabres the night before, the flow of Tuesday's first period was eerily similar to Monday's contest, even down to the goal scorers, as Lee and Pageau lit the lamp in succession for a second-straight game.
Lee opened the scoring, tallying his sixth goal of the season at 4:43. Pageau, who sniped over Linus Ullmark's shoulder on Monday, picked a corner on Carter Hutton at the 11:58 mark of Tuesday's contest.
That gave the Islanders a 2-0 lead and marked the 18th and 19th first-period goals of the season for the Isles who've used quick starts to their advantage. After weathering a Sabres' push at the end of the first period, they began to put the squeeze on Buffalo in the second.
"It's good preparation," Pageau said of the Isles strong starts. "Being ready to play your role as best as you can and that's why we come out strong."
One night after holding the Sabres without a shot in the third period on Monday - the first time in franchise history - the Islanders held Buffalo to three shots in the second period, including none in the last 13:14 of the middle frame.
Victor Olofsson appeared to put Buffalo on the board on a third period power play with seven minutes to play, but the Islanders successfully challenged and overturned the goal to preserve the clean sheet, as Jack Eichel had entered the zone offside.
Buffalo continued to push in the third, generating eight shots on goal, and 20 on the night as a whole, but Sorokin stood tall. The Islanders eventually ended the game with an empty-netter, as Lee scored with 0.3 seconds left on the clock.
"It was a nice compliment that the guys did it at the start and [Sorokin] did it at the end," Trotz said.