New York Islanders thrash Buffalo Sabres 5-2
P.A. Parenteau netted the game-winning goal, as New York Islanders held on to take a 5-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres, at the HSBC Arena on Friday night.
Nathan Lawson started the game between the pipes, but was pulled after the first period because of an injury to his left knee. He turned aside 10 shots while Kevin Poulin stopped 26 shots in rest of the play.
Michael Grabner tallied two goals while Matt Moulson and Jack Hillen scored a goal apiece for New York, who had lost five of their last six games coming into the contest.
"We still have things to work on here," said Moulson. "But we know if we stick to our game plan and what the coaches set forth for us, we're gonna come away with wins. We just need to get on a roll and get some confidence."
Ryan Miller left the game halfway through the opening period after giving up two goals on 10 shots. Patrick Lalime finished the game in the net and stopped 16-of-18 shots for Buffalo, who have won three of four play-offs prior to the setback. Nathan Gerbe
recorded two goals for the Sabres in the losing effort.
Sabres Coach Lindy Ruff lamented his team’s poor finishing in the game. He said, "We had some good effort in parts of the game, but there was no finishing. You can win all the battles, but if you don't finish plays, you don't win."
Grabner opened the scoring of the game to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead in the eighth minute of the first period. The goal came when Grabner controlled the puck behind the net and slapped it out in front, where it caromed off Tyler Myers and snuck past Miller.
“Our starts were real slow the last couple of weeks,” Grabner said. “We wanted to get the first goal and play with the lead for once and have the other team scramble back.”
Just over three minutes later, the Islanders struck again for a two-goal advantage 2-0. New York won a face-off at the left circle and from the high slot Andy MacDonald ripped a shot on net, which was redirected by Moulson past Miller, who was pulled after
the goal.
Parenteau pushed the Islanders’ cushion to 3-0 in the 15th minute of the second period. The play was set up by John Tavares, who snatched the puck along the right boards due to a bad turnover in the Sabres end. He then found Parenteau skating alone in the
slot and passed the disc to him. Parentea had a plenty of time to pick his spot and knocked it into the net.
Hillen further increased the advantage to 4-0 with five and a half minutes left in the final stanza.
Gerbe breathed some life into Buffalo’s play and managed to cut the deficit in half, as he scored two goals five seconds apart late in the game.
He registered the first goal with three and a half minutes left to make it a 4-1 game. He rushed into the zone down the right wing and lifted a backhand from the circle into the left corner.
Gerbe got Buffalo within another goal to make it a 4-2 game five seconds later, and set the franchise record for the fastest goals by one player. He threw the puck past the Islanders’ defender from the face-off to Mike Grier, who caught up with and passed
it back over to Gerbe, who then fired a shot into the net.
However, the Sabres failed to get another goal. They did not have much in response, except for Gerbe’s brief and sudden eruption. Grabner then scored his second goal of the game in the last few minutes to ensure a 5-2 win.
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