Nelson, Islanders recover to defeat Sabres in season opener

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Brock Nelson had a goal and an assist for the New York Islanders, who recovered for a 3-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres in their season opener at UBS Arena on Saturday.

“It’s always nice to start off on the right foot,” Nelson said. “It’s been a long week for us. I think everyone was excited to get out here, get the opener, and get back into real action.”

Kyle Palmieri and Casey Cizikas also scored, and Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves for the Islanders.

“Solid as always. [Sorokin] was great.” Islanders captain Anders Lee said. “He was sprawling around making saves. We got some fortunate bounces, too, but it’s part of the game. When we needed him, he was there.”

Casey Mittelstadt had a goal and an assist, and Zach Benson had two assists for the Sabres (0-2-0). Devon Levi made 26 saves.

“Benson was good. (Jordan) Greenway and Mittlestadt, those three were good,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said. “They had some chances ... backdoor type stuff that one little inch or two would have been in. I thought the three of them were together, developing chemistry.”

Nelson gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 5:57 of the first period. Pierre Engvall won a battle along the boards with Connor Clifton and got the puck to Nelson, who scored glove side from the left circle.

“I just tried to hunt the puck down,” Engvall said. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I'm just trying to get the puck, and I felt that I had a step on him, and I was lucky he fell. I might’ve tripped him. We got the puck out there, and Nelson scored a really nice goal.”

Palmieri was credited with the goal that made it 2-0 at 18:18. Nelson got to a rebound in front, and his shot deflected off Palmieri and the skate of Clifton before redirecting into the net.

Greenway cut it to 2-1 at 4:15 of the second period. He took a pass from Mittelstadt on a 2-on-1, cut back across the crease, and slid the puck into an open net.

Benson, who was selected with the No. 13 pick in the 2023 NHL draft, had the secondary assist on the play for his first NHL point.

Mittelstadt tied it 2-2 with a backhand near the left post at 2:34 of the third period.

"I thought the second was kind of where we started to get going," Mittelstadt said. "Making plays and playing fast, I thought we looked like ourselves from there on in. ... Obviously it was a tough ending, but we know it's early and there's definitely some positive things we can take away from it."

Cizikas responded by redirecting Adam Pelech's point shot at 13:40 to put New York back in front 3-2.

“Pelech did a great job walking the line and getting that puck through,” Cizikas said. “That’s the main thing. It’s not easy. Guys are in front of pucks, guys are committed to blocking them. To get that puck through the bodies, it was definitely a great play by him.”

Granato challenged the play for offside, but a video review determined that Noah Dobson had control of the puck when he entered the zone.

“Well, you can process it that way, but you clearly are challenging it because it looks offside,” Granato said. “The question is the discretion, whether it’s offside, obviously, based on possession. And you can argue whether he had possession or not. Obviously, the [linesperson] is reviewing his own call. We lost the argument.”

NOTES: Nelson has 12 points (six goals, six assists) in 11 season-opening games. ... New York hadn't won a season opener at home since Jan. 21, 1995. ... Benson (18 years, 155 days) is the second-youngest player in Sabres history to get his first NHL point, behind Pierre Turgeon (18 years, 44 days).