Storylines
1. Silver linings from Saturday
Boston’s Morgan Geekie broke a 1-1 tie with 1:45 remaining in the third period, spoiling an otherwise encouraging road performance by Buffalo.
“We played 50 minutes of really good hockey,” said Sabres defenseman Connor Clifton, who led the team’s strong defensive effort with four blocked shots. “We competed, we won battles, we bought into our system, we took care of the D-zone, we blocked shots. We really battled for each other.”
Buffalo had been outscored 20-7 in second periods during the winless streak entering Saturday, but at Boston, the Sabres continued pressuring until JJ Peterka cashed on a game-tying power-play goal.
With just three third-period shots, however, Buffalo was unable to find the game-winning goal they’ve sought for weeks.
“I don’t think we think about it again if it wasn’t 13 in a row now,” Clifton said. “So we’re in it. We’re in one here, and we’ve got to start finding a way to win.”
2. Scouting the Islanders
Loss No. 3 of 13 came Nov. 30 at UBS Arena, a 3-0 Islanders victory. Midway through the game, after a scoreless first period, Anders Lee and Simon Holmstrom scored in a 2:05 span. Holmstrom added an empty-netter in the final seconds of the third period.
That shutout didn’t fully represent the Sabres’ performance, which included a 29-20 edge in shots and 9-6 in high-danger scoring chances, per Natural Stat Trick.
Monday’s game will conclude the season series between Buffalo and New York; the Islanders also won 4-3 on Nov. 1 at KeyBank Center.
Lee, New York’s captain, has tallied four points versus Buffalo and a team-leading 27 (13+14) overall this season. Forward Bo Horvat ranks second on the Islanders with 25 points (9+16).
The Islanders are coming off a 6-3 win Saturday at Toronto and own a 4-1 record versus the Sabres in UBS Arena’s four-season history.