Game Preview: Islanders at Sabres

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (23-19-4) VS SABRES (21-19-3)
7:30 PM ET | KEYBANK CENTER
WATCH: MSGSN | MSGGO | ESPN+
LISTEN: 88.7FM | 103.9FM | 1050AM
The New York Islanders travel to Buffalo to take on the Sabres on Thursday night at 7:30, in the second half of a back-to-back set. It's the first of three meetings this year.
The Islanders are coming off a 4-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night at UBS Arena. Zach Parise scored for the Islanders before Boston responded with four unanswered tallies. It was the final game of a season-long five-game homestand that saw the Isles go 1-2-2.

"It's easy to say you can't get discouraged, but the frustration is high for sure," Brock Nelson said following the loss. "We have to create more opportunities."
The Buffalo Sabres are coming off a 4-3 loss in overtime to the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night. Victor Olofsson, Tage Thompson and Peyton Krebs scored consecutive goals to bring a 3-1 lead into the third period, but the Blackhawks began to chip away. Seth Jones scored with under a minute left in regulation to push the overtime frame, finishing the job with his second goal of the night to win it for Chicago.
The Islanders (50 points) are five points ahead of the Sabres (45 points) with one game in hand.
The Islanders won the season series against the Sabres in four of the last five seasons, with a record of 13-5-1 over that span.

ISLANDERS NOTES:

• The Islanders offense dried up during their five-game homestand, netting eight goals over that span. The Islanders have been limited to one goal in five of their last nine contests and have only scored more than three goals twice over that span.
  - The Islanders are 10-11-2 on the road this season and 3-5-2 in their last 10 road games.
  - The Islanders power play went 1-for-15 on the homestand, converting at 6.7%. The penalty kill went 12-for-13 during the homestand (92.3%).
  - After facing Buffalo for the first time this season on Thursday night, the Islanders will have faced every team in the NHL at least once this season, except the Los Angeles Kings and the Winnipeg Jets.
  - Ilya Sorokin is the expected starter after Semyon Varlamov played on Wednesday night. Sorokin is 3-2-1 lifetime against the Sabres with a 2.65 GAA, a .905 SV% and one shutout. After racking up three wins in his first three games vs Buffalo, Sorokin is 0-2-1 in his last three.
  ISLES AT SABRES
  ISLANDERS ARTICLES
  3 Takeaways: BOS 4, NYI 1
  Bridgeport Report
  Born to Be an Islanders Fan
  Talkin' Isles: Mark Parrish
  GAME EXTRAS
  Pucks and Paws
  Reverse Retro Jersey
  Talkin' Isles
  - Anders Lee has 14 goals against the Sabres, which is tied with the New Jersey Devils for the most goals he's scored against any opponent.
  - Sebastian Aho has points in back-to-back games (1G, 1A). Aho has 10 points (4G, 6A) in 42 games this season.
  - William Dufour made his NHL debut vs Boston, but did not play in the final 29 minutes of the contest. Dufour came into the lineup for Simon Holmstrom. Defenseman Dennis Cholowski made his Islanders debut, coming in for Parker Wotherspoon.

SABRES NOTES:

• The Sabres have been on a skid as of late with a record of 1-4-1 in their last six games, with all four regulation losses on home ice.
  - The Sabres placed Vinnie Hinostroza on waivers on Wednesday after he was a healthy scratch for the past two games. The 28-year-old centerman recorded eight points (8A) in 19 games played with the Sabres this season.
  - Tage Thompson scored his team-leading 32nd goal of the season in Tuesday's 4-3 OT loss, snapping a season-long five-game goal drought in the process. With the goal, he became the fourth player in franchise history with 16 goals in the first 20 home games of a season. He joins Pat LaFontaine, Gilbert Perreault and Thomas Vanek in that select group of Sabres to accomplish the feat.
  - Rasmus Dahlin leads the Sabres in assists (35) and has four points (1G, 3A) in his last four outings.
  - Buffalo will celebrate Ryan Miller night on Thursday with a pregame ceremony as they retire #30, inducting him into the Sabres Hall of Fame. Miller is a retired goaltender who played nearly 800 career NHL games, spending parts of 11 seasons with Buffalo. He won 284 games and recorded 28 shutouts for the franchise.
  - As a high-scoring team, the Sabres sport the second-best record for goals for per game played this season (3.77), just a margin away from the league-leading Boston Bruins (3.81).
  - The Sabres are above the NHL .500 with a record of 21-19-3; they finished the past nine seasons under that mark.