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Instead, the Sabres showed enough resiliency to defeat the New York
Islanders.
Left winger Matt Moulson and center Sam Reinhart scored seven
minutes apart to erase a one-goal deficit and give Buffalo a 2-1
victory at Barclays Center on Sunday night.
The victory was the third in four games for the Sabres (5-7-0). Last
season, Buffalo didn't earn its fifth win until Game 20 on the way
to finishing with the league's worst record.
The Sabres have two wins when trailing after two periods, one fewer
than they had in 82 games a year ago.
"You really didn't think about it," Buffalo coach Dan Bylsma said of
his team's busy schedule over the past two weeks. "That's a lot of
games and a lot of hockey. That's one thing we have seen from our
team is a continual willingness and ability to fight and scrape and
claw. That was it tonight. We got the lead in the third and we put
it away with a lot of great efforts from guys down the stretch."
The Islanders were without center John Tavares, their captain and
leading scorer, for the second consecutive game but looked like the
far better team over the first two periods. They outshot the Sabres
23-12 over the first 40 minutes and grabbed the lead late in the
second period.
After a scramble around the net, defenseman Calvin de Haan put the
Islanders on top 1-0 with a spinning shot from just above the
faceoff circles. The Sabres' best chance came shortly thereafter, as
Moulson was denied on a breakaway chance by goaltender Thomas
Greiss.
Moulson buried his next great chance in the third period, finishing
an odd-man rush at 6:20 for his fourth goal of the season. Reinhart
put the Sabres on top for good at 13:44 with his second of the
season.
The Sabres held the Islanders to one shot over the final 6:16 after
Reinhart's goal.
"I think we stuck with it," Reinhart said. "Things weren't going as
well as we planned. We weren't creating as many chances as we
would've liked to. I think we kept things simple and kept the right
attitude going to the third, and we were able to capitalize on our
chances."
Sabres goaltender Linus Ullmark stopped 29 shots for his second
career victory. Since his recall from Rochester of the AHL last
week, Ullmark is 2-1-0 with a 2.02 goals-against average and a .930
save percentage.
"Calm, cool, collected demeanor in net," Bylsma said of the
22-year-old rookie. "He came up big. He had three or four really big
saves in the third that he made it look easy, but they were big
saves."
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The loss was the second straight for the Islanders without Tavares,
though the team refused to use his absence as an excuse for
back-to-back lackluster games.
"There's obviously guys who are going to be in and out of the lineup
throughout the whole season," defenseman Travis Hamonic said.
"John's one of the best players in the world, certainly, so you're
going to miss him. Show me a team that's (not) going to miss their
best player and one of the best in the world, and I'll say they're
lying.
New York coach Jack Capuano said, "We have other guys in there that
can step up. Some of the young guys tonight were just very
disappointing. They have to step their game up. "
After a rare penalty-free game, the Sabres are feeling good about
themselves and sitting within spitting distance of a playoff spot.
Sure, the calendar just turned to November, but there is reason for
the team to feel good after spending last season vying for the first
pick in the draft.
"We got behind the 8 ball there, and you go out and win a game in
the third period," Bylsma said. "You don't see that often on the
road in the National Hockey League."
NOTES: Along with C John Tavares (illness), the Islanders were
without D Thomas Hickey (lower body), LW Eric Boulton (lower body)
and G Jean-Francois Berube (healthy scratch). ... This two-game
absence marks the first time Tavares has missed NHL games since the
2014 season, when an injury at the Sochi Olympics in February ended
his season. ... Sabres G Robin Lehner (ankle), LW Evander Kane (leg)
and C Cody McCormick (blood clots) are all out long-term. ... Sabres
D Mike Weber and C Tim Schaller were healthy scratches. ... Sabres C
Tyler Ennis returned to the lineup after a two-game absence caused
by a lower-body injury.
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