Game Preview: Islanders at Sabres 

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (29-21-14) AT BUFFALO SABRES (31-30-5)

7 PM ET | KEYBANK CENTER

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The Islanders are going from coast to coast to finish their four-game road trip with a matchup against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night at KeyBank Center.

The Islanders went 2-1-0 in the first three games of their road trip against all three California teams, with their only loss coming on Monday night against the Los Angeles Kings in a 3-0 decision. The Isles were blanked for the fifth time this season and saw their season-long winning streak end at six games.

“It was a tight game all-around,” Ryan Pulock said on Wednesday. “I thought we played well in that, in the playoffs you’re going to have games like that, we just have to find a way to score goals within those tight matches. Our focus now is what we can do better to prepare for tomorrow.”

The Sabres exploded with seven goals in a 7-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night for their second consecutive win. The result helped the Islanders (72 points, 64 games played), who slotted back into the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, while the Red Wings (72 points, 65 games played) slipped out of the playoff picture.

The Islanders and Sabres met twice in the span of eight days in the beginning of the season. The Islanders were victorious on Opening Night on Oct. 14 with a 3-2 win at UBS Arena, but they fell 3-1 in Buffalo on Oct. 21.

ISLANDERS NOTES

- Matt Martin joined the team for practice on Wednesday afternoon at KeyBank Center after he missed Monday's contest with a lower-body injury. The veteran forward is a game-time decision for Thursday's game against the Buffalo Sabres, per Head Coach Patrick Roy.

- Ilya Sorokin is the expected starter against Buffalo, per Roy. Sorokin is 5-2-2 lifetime against the Sabres, along with a .914 SV% and a 2.55 GAA.

- Kyle Palmieri has five goals in his last five outings and racked up 39 points (20G, 19A) through 64 games this season.

"First of all he's a great pro, secondly, he's around the net all the time," Roy said after Wednesday's practice. "He's getting rewarded for it. In today's game, not every player wants to go around the net and he does it perfectly."

- Including Monday night’s 3-0 loss, the Islanders are winless through seven games (0-4-3) on the second half of back-to-back sets this season. The Islanders will play three more back-to-back sets this season, with their next slated for this weekend when they take on the Ottawa Senators on Saturday and the New York Rangers on Sunday.

- Brock Nelson leads the team in goals (29) and is one goal shy of his third consecutive 30-goal season. Matt Moulson was the most recent Islander to accomplish the feat (2009-2012).

- Cal Clutterbuck skated in his 700th game as an Islander on Monday night, becoming the 13th player in franchise history to accomplish the feat.

- With 72 points through 64 games played, the Islanders are two points ahead of last season’s pace, where they had 70 points through the first 64 games of the 2022-23 season.

SABRES NOTES

- Buffalo is on a two-game winning streak after they bulldozed the Red Wings 7-3 on Tuesday night, creeping back into the playoff race in the process although they have some heavy lifting to do. The Sabres (67 points, 66 games played) are five points back of the Islanders (72 points, 64 games played) for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. They stand sixth in the Atlantic Division, chasing the Red Wings (72 points) by five points and are seven points back of the Tampa Bay Lightning (74 points), who occupy the first wild card spot.

- The Sabres were busy at the NHL trade deadline, as the organization parted ways with captain Kyle Okposo on Friday, sending the former Islander to the Florida Panthers in exchange for defenseman Calle Sjalin and a conditional seventh round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. Buffalo also traded veteran defenseman Erik Johnson to the Philadelphia Flyers for a fourth-round pick.

Okposo has 1,045 NHL games and 614 points on his resume, spending eight seasons with the Sabres and eight full seasons with the Islanders prior. The 35-year-old winger was drafted seventh overall by the Islanders in the 2006 NHL Draft.

- The Sabres also dealt goaltender Devin Cooley to the San Jose Sharks for a seventh-round pick in 2025. The 26-year-old netminder played 14 games for the Rochester Americans and has yet to make his NHL debut.

- In a deal with the Colorado Avalanche on Mar. 6, the Sabres acquired defenseman Bowen Byram in exchange for forward Casey Mittelstadt. Mittelstadt, 25, spent six full seasons with the team after he was drafted eighth overall in the 2017 NHL Draft.

Bryam, 22, collected 20 points (8G, 12A) with the Avs in his fourth NHL season. He made his Sabres debut on Mar. 7 and had a two-point performance (1G, 1A) for his new team in a 4-2 loss to the Nashville Predators. He made a bigger splash in his third game with his new team, scoring a pair of goals in Tuesday’s 7-3 win over the Red Wings. Bryam became the first defenseman in Sabres history (and the 20th defenseman in NHL history) to score three or more goals through their first three games with a franchise.

- Rasmus Dahlin leads Buffalo in scoring with 48 points, while Jeff Skinner and JJ Peterka are tied for the team lead with 21 goals.