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"A huge indicator of our game is our puck management and our play in the neutral zone with the puck," Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said. "When we're playing good and we're on our game, we manage the puck well, keep it going north, get in the offensive zone and play there. Tonight we didn't do that at all. We turned the puck over against good players and gave them opportunities against us."
"We definitely didn't play at the level we can play and need to play," said goalie Anders Nilsson, who made 27 saves on 32 shots. "We were flat the whole game. I think we gave up too many odd-man rushes, way too many scoring chances against and unfortunately I wasn't able to make the saves that the team needed."
It was only a week ago that the Sabres beat this same Islanders team at home in overtime, which at the time marked their second win in three games. Even when they lost the next two games on the road in shootouts, there was some solace to be found in the fact that they had earned points in eight of 10 games.
With their last two losses to Carolina and New York, however, the Sabres are now winless in four straight. The six-game stretch beginning against Los Angeles on Dec. 13 was one they had honed in on as an opportunity to make up ground in the standings, but it ended with them earning just six points.
Three more games in the Atlantic Division await them on the other side of the break, beginning with a game in Detroit on Tuesday followed by a home-and-home set against Boston. With the Sabres now eight points out of third place in the division, all three of those games become crucial.
"We need to use this time and regroup and like I said, we've got to come back with the mindset that we know what type of team we are when we have success," Gionta said.
"We just have to be willing to play that way every night."