Sabres look ahead to homestand following shutout loss on Long Island

NEW YORK – Dylan Cozens looked ahead to the task in front of the Buffalo Sabres following a 3-0 loss to the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Saturday.

The loss extended the Sabres’ winless streak to three games at 0-2-1. They had won their previous three games in a sweep of their California road trip, which concluded in San Jose last Saturday.

The team returns to KeyBank Center to open a season-long, five-game homestand against Colorado on Tuesday.

“We need to have a big homestand and just work our asses off and learn from these games and be frustrated about them, but we’ve got to move on,” Cozens said. “Big couple weeks coming up.”

The loss to the Islanders was similar to the Sabres’ last two games in the sense that it was a low-scoring, tightly contested game. The Sabres previously lost 1-0 to Minnesota at home on Wednesday, then erased a late deficit before falling 4-3 in overtime to Vancouver on Friday.

Sabres coach Lindy Ruff felt the team’s performance took a step back on Saturday, however.

“If you look at the amount of work we put in the Wild game and the amount of work we put in the Vancouver game, you’ve got to guard against frustration because with both games, with finishing (on scoring chances), we would have won,” Ruff said.

“We put ourselves in good position in both games. This game was below the level we needed to win, for sure. I’d give them the edge in quality opportunities. You’ve got to put that game behind you, and we’ve got to be ready to play our best game coming up.”

The Islanders built their lead with a pair of goals scored 2:25 apart during the second period. Anders Lee scored first, planting his stick in the blue paint for a deflection on the power play. Lee then set up the next goal by forcing a turnover at the New York blue line and feeding Simon Holmstrom on a 2-on-1 rush.

James Reimer kept the Islanders at bay from that point on in an 18-save performance, but the two-goal lead allowed the Islanders to tighten up and play to their defensive reputation. Holmstrom added an empty-net goal to seal the victory during the final minute.

“I mean, we know how they’re gonna play and we just gave them what they were looking for, and that’s chances,” Cozens said. “We came out flat, our execution was terrible, and we played right into their hand and did exactly what they wanted (us) to do. That’s on us as players. We knew the game we needed to play, and we just didn’t do it.”

The Sabres finished the game with a 63-44 lead in shot attempts but Cozens and Ruff agreed they did not put enough pressure on Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin, who made 29 saves for the shutout.

“We know he’s a great goalie and I just think we didn’t get enough pucks on net and we didn’t have enough bodies around to get those second chances on those rebounds,” Cozens said. “He played a great game, but we’ve got to be better, for sure.”

Here’s more from the loss.

1. Ruff changed up the Sabres’ forward lines going into the contest, including a move for Jack Quinn alongside JJ Peterka and Tage Thompson. Alex Tuch slotted in alongside Zach Benson and Cozens.

Tuch was moved back to his usual spot with Peterka and Thompson for the start of the second period, while Jiri Kulich saw time alongside Benson and Cozens.

“I just thought there was some sloppy play, there were some turnovers, we had some guys who didn’t skate well,” Ruff said when asked about the mid-game changes. “So, just tried to shake it up.”

2. The Sabres finished the night 0-for-2 on the power play, falling to 0-for-13 in the last five games. The power play had scored at least one goal in 10 of the previous 11 contests.

“We just can’t get frustrated,” Cozens said. “We can’t get on each other, we can’t get yelling at each other and complaining about each other. We’ve just got to go out there and just work.

“You’re not going to score every power play. You’ve got to be OK with that, and if you don’t score on the first one, score on the second one. You don’t score on the second one, you score on the third one. I think we’re just getting a little frustrated as of late and it’s definitely not doing us any favors.”

3. The Sabres were without forward Sam Lafferty, who exited Friday’s game against Vancouver with a lower-body injury. Nicolas Aube-Kubel joined the lineup in Lafferty’s absence and had three shots and three hits in 11:23.

Up next

The Sabres host the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday to open a five-game homestand. Tickets are available here.

Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 7.