Skinner plays role of irritant, goal scorer in win over Islanders

Casey Mittelstadt flashed a big smile when asked to imagine what it would be like to play against Jeff Skinner rather than with him.
"I mean, he's one of my best friends and I'm pretty sure I would hate his guts on the other side," Mittelstadt said. "We're lucky to have him."
Skinner illustrated why the Sabres prefer to have him on their side during a 5-3 win over the New York Islanders inside KeyBank Center on Saturday. He played the dual role of irritant and offensive star, finishing with one goal, one assist, and 14 penalty minutes.

The victory gave Buffalo its first four-game winning streak of the season. Rasmus Dahlin, Tage Thompson, and Vinnie Hinostroza also added goals. Dustin Tokarski made 19 saves.

It was Skinner who drew the ire of the Islanders throughout the afternoon, first with his chatter and later with his offense. Zdeno Chara was the first to show his frustration, jawing and shoving with the Sabres forward as officials separated them late in the second period.
Adam Pelech took the next shot, a cross-check late in the third period. Matt Martin took his own run at Skinner after that whistle, igniting a brawl at center ice. Thompson jumped on top of Martin, followed by Jacob Bryson. Owen Power went one-on-one with Casey Cizikas off to the side.
Skinner was assessed a 10-minute misconduct and a two-minute roughing minor, ending his afternoon with 5:20 to play.
"Sometimes I'm doing it to try to get myself in the game," he said when asked about his vocal nature on the ice. "Sometimes it's just kind of the emotions run high when you sort of get into crunch time. Tonight, maybe it was more of that. I think it was just an emotional game. It was a little bit physical and that's pretty much sort of what happened."

Buffalo had the victory well in hand by the time Skinner was sent to the dressing room thanks in large part to the offense he provided at a critical moment.
The Sabres had seen their 4-1 lead cut to 4-3 during a span of less than two minutes in the third period. Skinner provided the added cushion that turned the game back in their favor, following Thompson as he drove to the Islanders' net and burying the rebound from in tight.

"Skinner's goal there pretty much sealed the game, and it came after all those what looked like individual and altercations," Sabres coach Don Granato said. "He never lost sight of his responsibility to his teammates, to the system we play. He was ready to score a goal. So, I love that.
"Lots of times you have emotion, and that emotion pulls them away from their game and their ability to score. That was really something to tip your hat to Jeff for."
Skinner has 33 goals and 62 points this season, the latter mark one shy of his career high. He has tallied at least one point in 15 of his last 18 contests.
He does it all while getting under the skin of his opponents.
"You see him doing that and making plays at the same time, it's pretty special," Mittelstadt said. "We're just lucky he's on our side."

Dahlin nets his 13th

Dahlin buried a slap shot from the blue line for his 13th goal of the season, the most by a Sabres defenseman since Jordan Leopold also scored 13 in 2010-11.

Dahlin entered Saturday with 15 points in 17 games dating back to March 20, which ranked fifth among NHL defensemen in that span.

5 in 3

The Sabres have scored five or more goals in three straight games for the first time since March 14 to 19, 2008.
"I liked our five-on-five game a lot," Granato. "I like where our team is when we present stuff to them pregame and they're executing it so much more proficiently, and that's nice."

Up next

The Sabres visit the Boston Bruins on Thursday for their final road game of the season. Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. The puck drops at 7.