Buffalo Sabres crush New York Islanders 5-3
Ryan Miller stopped 31-of-34 shots, as the Buffalo Sabres overcame the New York Islanders 5-3, at Nassau Coliseum on Sunday.
Tyler Myers and Nathan Gerbe each recorded a goal and an assist for the Sabres, who have won three of four games overall. Tyler Ennis and Jason Pominville also tallied a goal and an assist, while Paul Gaustad netted a goal in
the win.
"It was a good third period for us," said Ennis. "We needed this win today. It was a good team effort out there."
Matt Moulson lit the lamp twice and Jack Hillen found the net once for New York, who have lost six their previous eight contests. Rick DiPietro turned aside 18 shots in the loss.
Moulson said after the game, "I thought we played hard. We had a couple of mistakes that wound up in the back of our net, so it's a tough one to swallow."
Gaustad got Buffalo on the board for a 1-0 lead just 15 seconds into the first period, as he buried in a rebound in front of DiPietro. It remained a 1-0 game for the rest of the period. Moulson tied the scores at 1-1 on a power-play
goal just one minute into the middle period on a wrist shot from in the low slot.
The Sabres then regained their lead at 2-1 in the fifth minute of second stanza. It started when Ennis took a pass from Jochen Hecht and snapped a soft backhander through the goalie’s pads.
Moulson then tallied his second goal of the game to pull the Islanders even at 2-2 again with six and a half minutes left in the second period. P.A. Parenteau ripped a wrist shot that was blocked by Miller, but the rebound sat
in the crease. Moulson grabbed it and knocked the puck into the wide-open net.
Gerber then broke the tie to put the Sabres ahead again for a 3-2 lead early in the final period. The Sabres capitalised on a double-high sticking call against Josh Bailey, who clipped Gaustad late in the middle session. Tyler
Myers threw the puck from the right point to the right circle to Tyler Ennis, and sent a backhanded pass to Gerbe, who fired it home from the left side.
Two minutes later the Sabres managed to extend their advantage to 4-2. The play was set up by Gerbe, who sent a pass to Myers, who then deflected it toward the net from in close. The puck caromed off the New York defenseman
and squeezed past the netminder, clearly crossing the line, but officials initially ruled no goal. However, a brief video review determined that the puck crossed the line.
Hillen drew New York within one goal to make it a 4-3 game with three and a half minutes left in the final stanza, but Pominville sealed the win at 5-3 with an empty-netter with 24 seconds left.
Tags: