With a chance to move into the top wild-card spot, the New York Islanders were not sharp for a second straight game, falling 4-0 to the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night.
BUFFALO, NY -- With a chance to move into the top wild-card spot, the New York Islanders were not sharp for a second straight game, falling 4-0 to the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night.
The Islanders have now been shut out in two straight games after falling 3-0 to the Los Angeles Kings this past Monday.
Here's how it happened:
The Islanders were under siege in the first period and struggled to make simple plays in regard to zone exits. Even off the rush, their passing was anything but sharp.
At the 6:22 mark of the first, the Islanders were being outshot 6-0, getting their first shot on goal at 10:15 of the first, courtesy of an Adam Pelech point shot.
The Islanders did have the only power play of the period but failed to get a shot on goal.
Islanders netminder Ilya Sorokin turned aside 13 shots in the first period, his best save coming at 14:13 of the first, robbing Sabres forward Peyton Krebs with the glove:
Just over four minutes into the second period, Bo Horvat got in on a breakaway, but Anders Lee was called for interfering with Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons.
Buffalo made quick work of the power play, with Victor Olofsson sneaking a one-time chance at the glove-side post to give the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 4:28 of the second:
Dylan Cozens extended the Sabres' lead to 2-0 at 8:15 of the second after he jumped on a Connor Clifton rebound:
Zach Benson made it 3-0 at 9:41 of the second period after he redirected a Henri Jokiharju point shot:
Islanders head coach Patrick Roy used his challenge, believing that forward Jordan Greenway interfered with Sorokin, but the call stood, and the Islanders stared down a huge deficit against a red-hot team.
The Islanders entered the third period down 3-0, being outshot 29-12.
New York failed to wake up in the third period, getting shut out for a second straight game.
They now have two matinees this upcoming weekend, something they've struggled with for quite some time.
While on the power play, with around nine minutes to play in the game, Roy elected to pull Sorokin. The Islanders couldn't score on the man advantage, and after playing 6-on-5 for a bit, Benson scored his second of the game as he got behind the defense for a tap-in at 15:06 of the third to make it 4-0.
UP NEXT: The Islanders host the Senators on Saturday at 12:30 ET.
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