Game Preview: Islanders at Sabres

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (2-0-1) AT BUFFALO SABRES (1-3-0)

7 PM | KEYBANK CENTER

WATCH: MSGSN | MSG GO | ESPN+

LISTEN: 88.7FM | 103.9FM | 1050AM

The New York Islanders head to Buffalo to take on the Sabres in their first road game of the season on Saturday night in Western New York.

The Islanders earned a point in a 5-4 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils on Friday night. Brock Nelson (2G) and Bo Horvat (2G) scored for the Islanders to counteract goals from Jack Hughes (2G, 2A), Dougie Hamilton, Tyler Toffoli and Luke Hughes. Bo Horvat forced overtime with a late goal, but Jack Hughes was the hero for New Jersey, burying the game-winner in the extra frame. Ilya Sorokin turned aside 34 of 39 shots in the loss, while Akira Schmid made 28 saves in the win over the Islanders.

“It’s extremely disappointing, but I give our guys full marks for continuing to come back and show resilience,” Head Coach Lane Lambert said after the loss. “But certainly, it was a huge point for us in the end.”

The Sabres are coming off a 4-3 loss to the Calgary Flames at home on Thursday night. Erik Johnson, Tage Thompson and JJ Peterka scored to erase deficits, but the Flames came out on top with Adam Ruzicka's game-deciding goal in the final frame. Devon Levi stopped 36 of 40 shots in the loss.

Saturday’s date with the Sabres rounds out the first back-to-back set of the season for the Islanders.

“It’s going to be important that we recover and re-focus,” Ryan Pulock said after Friday’s OT loss. “We’ll get back to the right mindset tomorrow. Obviously, there are things we can clean up from tonight as well as things we can build on. We have another chance tomorrow to get a win.”

The last time these two teams crossed paths, the Islanders edged out the Sabres 3-2 in their season opener at UBS Arena. Brock Nelson (1G, 1A), Kyle Palmieri and Casey Cizikas (GWG) scored for New York the win, while Casey Mittelstadt (1G, 1A) and Jordan Greenway scored for Buffalo.

The Islanders are 15-6-2 over the last five seasons against the Sabres.

ISLANDERS NOTES:

- The Islanders took five of a possible six points in their season-opening, three-game homestand and lost their first overtime contest to the Devils on Friday with a final score of 5-4.

“It wasn’t the cleanest of games or what we’d like,” Brock Nelson said on Friday. “They took advantage of special teams and Sorokin had to be on top of his game in terms of the quality of shots he faced. He gave us a chance to win but that point is huge.”

- The Islanders’ penalty had an off-night on Friday, going 1-for-5 and allowing four power-play goals for the first time since March 1, 2014.

“If we stayed out of the box tonight, it could’ve been a different story,” Bo Horvat said on Friday. “We have to clean some stuff up on the PK and we had some mental lapses, but I think we still have another level to our game.”

- Bo Horvat buried two goals on Friday night to mark his first multi-goal game as an Islander.

- Semyon Varlamov is expected to make his first start of the season against Buffalo on Saturday. The Russian netminder sported a 2.70 GAA and a .913 SV % over the span of 22 starts last season.

“I feel ready,” Varlamov said after Friday’s morning skate. “I had a lot of skating in the past few weeks, a lot of work... I'm feeling pretty good. Obviously, I haven't played since, it's been like two weeks, but I had a lot of good practices, a lot of good skates skate, so I feel like I'm ready.”

- Brock Nelson buried two goals on Friday night against the Devils, marking his second multi-point night of the season. The 32-year-old center has four points (3G, 1A) on the season, tied with Kyle Palmieri for the team lead in points (4).

- Palmieri is the only Islander with points in all three games. He registered a pair of assists on Friday night against the Devils and has four points (1G, 3A) to start the season.

SABRES NOTES:

- Goalie Devon Levi and forward Zach Benson did not practice on Friday and are listed as day to day with lower-body injuries, the team announced. Neither player is expected to play on Saturday.

- Levi, 21, started in net for Buffalo in all four matchups this season. The rookie netminder is 1-3-0 with a .892 SV% and a 3.26 GAA over that span. The Sabres carry three goaltenders on their active roster, so Eric Comrie or Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen could get the nod to start on Saturday against the Islanders. 

UPDATE: Comrie will start in goal for the Sabres on Saturday, per the team's official website. 

- Benson, 18, played in all four games this season for the Sabres. The 2023 first-round draft pick (13th overall) tallied his first two NHL points (2A) on Saturday against the Islanders. Benson had a direct path to the NHL, playing in the WHL for the Wenatchee Wild last season.

- Erik Johnson potted his first goal with Buffalo in Thursday’s 4-3 loss to the Flames. The 35-year-old defenseman spent 13 seasons with the Avalanche before signing a one-year deal with the Sabres on Jul. 1.

- Rasmus Dahlin is riding a three-game point streak with four points (4A) in his last three outings, leading the team in points. The defenseman collected 73 points (15G, 58A) last season.

- The Sabres will sport their third jerseys for the first time this season on Saturday.