Rasmus Dahlin tallied four assists, leading the Buffalo Sabres to a 7-1 win over the Islanders heading into the holiday break.
ELMONT, NY -- The New York Islanders entered Monday's game against the Sabres looking to claw their way back to .500. Meanwhile, Buffalo was looking to end their 13-game slide with a win before the holiday break.
The Islanders were outplayed from start to finish, falling 7-1, setting them back after taking a big step forward in Toronto Saturday.
The Sabres came out strong, and only 2:09 into the first period, Beck Malenstyn deflected a Jacob Bryson point-shot past Ilya Sorokin for a 1-0 Buffalo lead.
Both teams had chances early, and the Sabres led 4-3 in shots when Anders Lee slashed Jason Zucker, with 5:15 left in the first.
Then with 3:34 remaining in the first, Owen Power was called for unsportsmanlike conduct, and Alex Romanov for roughing. They both went to the box after a small scrum in front of Sorokin. The penalties did not affect manpower.
Just after Lee returned to the ice, Jiri Kulich fired his fifth of the season past Sorokin. The goal was assisted by Dylan Cozens and Rasmus Dahlin and gave the Sabres a 2-0 lead.
After one period, the Sabres led 9-5 in shots and held a 2-0 lead.
Six minutes into the second, Jean-Gabriel Pageau was called for hooking, and the Sabres made the Islanders pay.
Zucker fired the puck past Sorokin, giving the Sabres a 3-0 lead. Jack Quinn and Dahlin were awarded assists.
Bo Horvat and Peyton Krebs both went to the box for roughing at 11:21 -- and the teams played four-on-four.
Zach Benson would add to the Sabres lead, scoring his fifth goal of the season, extending the Sabres lead to 4-0 with 4:15 left in the second frame.
And with 1:39 to play in the second, the Sabres took a five-goal lead, when Quinn roofed a wrister past Sorokin.
But before the period would expire, the Islanders finally got on the board as Kyle Palmieri touched home an Anthony Duclair pass with 0:55 left in the period to cut Buffalo's lead to 5-1.
With 2:42 into the third, Ryan McLeod cross-checked Duclair to give the Islanders a penalty, but they could not cut into the Sabres' four-goal lead.
Perhaps out of frustration, Sorokin played the puck outside the trapezoid area and gained his first NHL career penalty, but the Islanders successfully killed it.
With 11:53 to go and the Islanders down 5-1, coach Patrick Roy decided to pull the goalie. But with 9:53 remaining, Tage Thompson scored his 17th goal of the season, extending the Sabres lead to 6-1.
Casey Cizikas and Cozens were then called for roughing at 13:48, and the teams played four aside.
With 4:11 to play, Kulich took the puck away from Isiah George, and Kulich made his way into the Islanders zone, fired and scored to give Buffalo a 7-1 lead.
If things were not bad enough for the Islanders, Scott Mayfield was hit in the face with a puck off the stick of Bryson with 2:14 remaining. Mayfield skated off under his own power.
The final minutes counted off the clock, and the Isles fell 7-1 to the Sabres heading into the holidays.
They will next be in action this Saturday at 7:30 PM when they face off against the Penguins at UBS Arena.