Sabres coach Phil Housley said that while he initially disagreed with the ruling, he did eventually see a replay angle that provided conclusive evidence that the puck had crossed the goal line. Lehner, however, was vocal in his disappointment with the call.
The goalie compared the ruling to Buffalo Bills wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin's overturned touchdown catch against the New England Patriots on Sunday, saying it seems to be something "in the Buffalo waters."
"Well, I know Toronto already made up their mind that it was a goal before they shot the puck," Lehner said. "That's just how it works in this league."
The disappointment of losing was heightened by the feeling that the Sabres had outplayed the Islanders for much of the night. After being outshot 10-1 through the game's first eight minutes, the Sabres responded with a hard-working, simple game and finished the night with a 37-34 edge in shots.
Jason Chimera opened the scoring for New York early in the second period, cleaning up a rebound at the edge of the crease, but Zemgus Girgensons scored to tie the game shortly after and Kyle Okposo scored the go-ahead goal with 8:27 remaining in the third.
"It's a tough break," Okposo said. "I thought we played a pretty good hockey game. With the exception of the first six, seven minutes of the game, I thought we outplayed them. We had our chances. We played a pretty simple game and moved our feet. It was a tough outcome."
Before and after Bailey's goal, the Sabres had plenty of chances both to widen and regain their lead. Jordan Nolan was stopped on a breakaway earlier in the third period and Sam Reinhart had a point-blank shot swallowed by Jaroslav Halak with 1.7 seconds remaining in regulation.
Even in overtime, Ryan O'Reilly found Evander Kane for a point-blank, one-time shot that was saved by Halak.
"It's sort of a common theme, we're getting that golden look and we're not capitalizing on it and it comes back the other way," Housley said. "It's just unfortunate because I thought our guys played hard. They were physical, they were fast, they were hard on the forecheck, we had a lot of O-zone time.
"That's one of the things that's disappointing, because the guys really played well tonight."