Game Preview: Islanders vs Sabres

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (8-10-6) VS BUFFALO SABRES (11-10-2)

7:30 PM | UBS ARENA | BUY TICKETS

WATCH: MSGSN | MSG+ | ESPN+

LISTEN: 88.7FM | 103.9FM | ISLANDERS + UBS ARENA APP

The New York Islanders are back at home to host the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night at UBS Arena, in the second half of a back-to-back set.

The Isles are coming off a 5-4 OT loss to the Washington Capitals on Friday. Anders Lee (1G, 2A), Simon Holmstrom (2G) and Kyle MacLean scored for the Islanders and Semyon Varlamov made 21 of 26 saves in the overtime defeat. Although they picked up an important point in the standings, failing to pick up two was disappointing, given that New York had a 4-2 lead at the start of the third period. The Islanders have allowed the game-winning goal in the third period in five of their last seven contests.

“We played a really solid game, but we dropped it in the third, which is something we need to figure out,” Holmstrom said. “I think right now, it’s in our head a little bit when we don’t want it to be. We just have to fight through it, we know we can do it, we’ve proven it before.”

The Sabres are also playing on a back to back, and are also coming off an overtime loss, as they fell to the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 in OT on Friday afternoon. Dylan Cozens, Alex Tuch and Bowen Byram scored for Buffalo while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen tuned aside 18 of 22 shots.

SEASON SERIES

The Islanders have the leg up on the season series 1-0-0 after they won 4-3 on Nov. 1, but the matchup was costly on the injury front, as Adam Pelech, Mike Reilly and Alexander Romanov suffered upper-body injuries in the game. Pelech and Reilly remain out.

ISLES NOTES

- JG Pageau (lower-body, day to day) missed Friday’s contest against the Capitals. It was his first game missed after playing 119 consecutive contests. He also did not play in the final six minutes of Wednesday’s tilt against the Boston Bruins.

- Ilya Sorokin is the likely starter against Buffalo on Saturday after Semyon Varlamov played on Friday. Sorokin 5-6-3 this season along with a 2.70 GAA and a .909 SV%. He was in net against the Sabres where he made 32 saves in the 4-3 win on Nov. 1.

- In Pageau’s absence, Simon Holmstrom played on a line with Bo Horvat and Anders Lee. Holmstrom netted his fourth and fifth goal of the season on Friday, which marked his first multi-goal game of his career.

- With a primary helper on Holmstrom’s goal, Anders Lee recorded his 200th career assist. The captain recorded his first three-point performance (1G, 2A) of the season on Friday afternoon.

- Isaiah George extended his point streak to three games (3A) with an assist on Lee’s second period goal on Friday.

- The Islanders’ power play sunk to 32nd in the NHL (11.9%) after going 0-for-3 on Friday.

SABRES NOTES

- Sam Lafferty suffered a lower body injury in the second period of Friday's game against Vancouver and did not return. The 29-year-old forward has one goal through 21 games his season and status against the Isles is to be determined.

- With Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen playing on Friday afternoon, James Reimer is expected to start against the Isles. The Sabres claimed the 36-year-old netminder off waivers from the Anaheim Ducks on Nov. 13. Reimer played his first and only game so far for the Sabres on Nov. 23 where he made 31 of 33 saves in a 4-2 win over the Sharks. The veteran netminder is 9-3-2 lifetime against the Isles with a .914 SV%, a 2.83 GAA and one shutout.

- Devon Levi was assigned to AHL to Rochester on Nov. 18 for more playing time, per Head Coach Lindy Ruff. The 22-year-old netminder has a 2-5-0 record along with a 3.95 GAA and a .870 SV% with the Sabres this season.

- Zach Benson, who was selected by Buffalo 13th overall in the 2023 NHL Draft, has struggled offensively this season with five points (3G, 2A) through 16 games this season. He missed five games with a lower-body injury (Oct. 19 - Nov. 5) and did not face the Islanders in the first game of the season series on Nov. 1.

- Buffalo’s power play has seen some improvement since the last the Islanders played the Sabres. On Nov. 1st, Buffalo's power play was converting at 6.9% and ranked 32nd in the NHL, but has improved to 26th in the league (16.9%). A seven-game stretch where Buffalo went 8-for-24 (33.3%) on the man advantage from Nov. 5 through Nov. 20 helped boost their numbers, but they have cooled off since, going 0-for-11 in its last four games.

- Alex Tuch leads the Sabres in scoring with 21 points (7G, 14A), while Tage Thompson leads in goals (11).

Thompson made his return to the lineup on Wednesday after missing five games with a lower-body injury. He has 18 points (11G, 7A) in 17 games this season and is two seasons removed from a 94-point campaign in 2022-23.