The New York Islanders kick off their season against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night. Hudson Fasching has a little rivalry with Buffalo that goes deeper than a back-breaking goal last season.
The New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres will battle on Thursday night, with a critical two points at stake.
The Islanders, who are holding down the second wild-card spot, could potentially find themselves in the top wild-card spot depending on the result between the first wild-card Tampa Bay Lightning and the New York Rangers.
Depending on how things go between them and the Toronto Maple Leafs, Patrick Roy's squad can also move just two points behind the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Buffalo is playing the best hockey of its season.
The Sabres have won two straight games and are 6-3-1 in their last 10 to put themselves back in the playoff conversation.
They sit just five points out of a wild-card spot.
Last March, the Islanders battled the Sabres in a game that would prove to have major playoff implications.
It was March 7 and the Islanders had hosted the Buffalo Sabres at UBS Arena.
Deadlocked at 2-2 in the third period, the Islanders took the lead with 12:24 to play after Scott Mayfield's pass from the point deflected off the knee of Hudson Fasching and in.
Originally called "No Goal" on the ice due to the referee seeing a distinct kicking motion, the Islanders challenged the ruling, and the call on the ice was overturned:
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp2_dDViD04[/embed]
Sabres supporters, including some media members, were confused with Toronto's ruling after the Islanders' successful challenge.
Regardless of their displeasure, the goal counted, and the rest is history.
The Islanders held on to win the game in regulation for a critical two points, but the magnitude of that goal wouldn't be felt until the season came to a close over a month later.
Fasching and the Islanders ended up as the top wild-card team in the East, with 93 points, getting back into the Stanley Cup Playoffs after missing in 2021-22.
The Sabres, who hadn't made the playoffs since 2011, finished their season with 91 points, one point behind the second-wild-card Florida Panthers.
Of course, there were more goals and more games to be had for both the Islanders and Sabres since that early March contest, including the Sabres getting revenge on March 25 with a 2-0 win at UBS Arena.
But that Fasching goal stung for the Buffalonians, as who knows what the final standings will look like if Buffalo forces overtime in that one?
When the 2023-24 NHL schedule came out, the Islanders' season was set to begin on Oct. 14 against none other than the Sabres.
"A little bit of that rivalry off the start," Fasching told The Hockey News last week.
The 28-year-old chuckled, reliving the knee goal and what it meant to him to get some payback against his former team.
"That was the organization I started with," Fasching said. "It was nice to get a little revenge against them.
"It feels good to get back at a team, in essence, that didn't want you, you know? I don't know what better way to say that."
Revenge is a dish best served cold, as they say.
Fasching and the Islanders defeated the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 in that game. A week later, Fasching played in a 3-1 loss in Buffalo.
Thursday will be the Islanders' third and final meeting of the season with the Sabres.
Here's some insight into Fasching's career timeline:
Fasching wasn't a highly-touted prospect out of the United States National Development Program when the Los Angeles Kings used their 2013 fourth-round draft pick on the forward.
But, after a strong freshman season at the University of Minnesota, he gained more attention.
Ahead of the 2014 NHL Trade Deadline, former Sabres general manager Tim Murray sent defenseman Brayden McNabb a pair of second-round picks to Los Angeles to bring in Fasching.
A year later, following Fasching's sophomore season at the University of Minnesota, the Sabres inked him to a three-year entry-level contract.
Fasching made his Sabres debut on March 26, 2016, against the Winnipeg Jets, scoring on his first NHL shot in a 3-2 win.
That would be his only goal for Buffalo, as he went scoreless in his next 21 NHL games over three years.
Over that span, he played 106 games for the Rochester Americans, their AHL affiliate.
On June 15, 2018, the Sabres gave up on Fasching after he was a healthy scratch during the AHL playoffs, sending the 22-year-old to the Arizona Coyotes for defenseman Brandon Hickey and minor-league forward Mike Sislo.
In four years in the desert, Fasching dressed for 16 total NHL games, playing 174 games for the Tuscon Roadrunners (AHL).
Then, after the 2021-22 season, Fasching became an unrestricted free agent and signed with the Islanders.
Fasching got off to a strong start in Bridgeport with seven goals and four assists in the first 11 games. Called up to the NHL squad in late November and debuting with New York in early December, Fasching made the most of his minutes.
He quickly earned the trust of first-year head coach Lane Lambert, going from a "fringe" NHLer to a staple in the lineup, potting 10 goals with nine assists in 49 games.
While the stat line was solid, Fasching brought intangibles that helped the Islanders sneak into the playoffs.
This season hasn't been the easiest for Fasching, who dealt with an injury during training camp that seemed to affect his play early on.
Then, in late January, the 28-year-old suffered a lower-body injury. With the Islanders playing their best hockey of the season, Fasching had to wait for 15 games before returning to the lineup this past Monday in a 3-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings after Matt Martin was unable to go due to a lower-body injury.
Martin, who took part in Wednesday's practice, is a game-time decision Thursday night against Buffalo. If he can't go, it's likely Fasching will draw back in to face his former team in hopes of making an impact that leads to a critical two points, like we saw last March.