At the Horn | Sabres 7 - Islanders 1

Rasmus Dahlin tallied a career-high four assists in his return to the lineup as the Buffalo Sabres defeated the New York Islanders 7-1 at UBS Arena on Monday, ending a 13-game winless streak (0-10-3).

Dahlin had missed seven games with a back injury prior to returning in a home loss against Toronto on Friday, when he skated a game-high 27:33 and had five shots. The Sabres opted not to dress the captain the following night in Boston as a precautionary measure.

"That's not what I want to do," Dahlin said when asked about the rest day on Monday morning. "But at the same time, you have to look forward, and a back-to-back coming back from injury is never a good thing. I felt how I felt in my back, and it was the right call by the doc. I'm ready to go.”

Dahlin was in top form against the Islanders, finishing with a plus-5 rating and skating a team-high 23:13. His four assists were the most in a single game by any NHL defenseman this season. It was the fifth four-assist performance by a defenseman in franchise history. (The others belong to Bill Hajt, Phil Housley, Tony Lydman, and Brian Campbell.)

Jiri Kulich had two goals and an assist for the first multi-point game of his career. Jack Quinn (1+1) and Dylan Cozens (0+2) also had multi-point outings while Zach Benson (playing his 100th NHL game), Jason Zucker, and Tage Thompson contributed goals.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 27 saves for his ninth win of the season.

Kyle Palmieri scored the lone goal for the Islanders, whose seven goals allowed were a season-high. Ilya Sorokin made 19 saves.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Period

The Sabres bookended the period with goals from Malenstyn and Kulich to carry a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.

Malenstyn opened the scoring 2:07 into the contest, setting up as one of three layers of traffic in front of Sorokin and deflecting a Jacob Bryson shot from the point. Ryan McLeod initiated the sequence by forcing a turnover along the wall on the forecheck.

Buffalo held New York to just five shots in the period, buying time to add to the lead until Jason Zucker drew a slashing penalty against Anders Lee for the game’s first power play. Kulich scored seconds after the man advantage expired, firing a quick shot on a loose puck after Dylan Cozens collected a rebound and sent a backhand pass toward the net-front.

Second Period

The Sabres piled on three more goals before Palmieri scored to put the Islanders on the board during the final minute.

Zucker scored the first goal on a power play at 6:53, burying a hard one-timer from the high slot off a sequence of passes from Dahlin and Quinn. It was Zucker’s team-leading fourth power-play goal of the season.

Luukkonen made quality stops to keep the score 3-0 – including a glove save on a rebound chance for Maxim Tsyplakov and a pad save on a Mathew Barzal one-timer from in close – before Benson and Quinn scored 2:36 apart to make it a 5-0 game.

Benson’s goal started with Kulich intercepting an attempted breakout pass inside the New York blue line. Kulich passed over to Dahlin, who one-timed a shot-pass right onto Benson’s tape at the top of the blue paint. Sorokin made the initial save, but Benson buried his own rebound.

Quinn followed with a one-time goal scored from the right side of the net. Dylan Cozens earned the primary assist after winning the puck along the end boards.

Palmieri chipped away at New York’s deficit with 54.5 seconds remaining, tapping in a feed from Anthony Duclair on a 2-on-1 opportunity.

Third Period

The Sabres successfully killed the Islanders’ only power play of the night early in the period, then extended the lead when Sorokin was pulled for an extra attacker with 11:30 remaining. Thompson scored into the empty net from the corner of his own zone, assisted by Dahlin.

Kulich once again turned defense into offense for his second goal of the night. He pressured Islanders defenseman Isaiah George into a turnover at the Buffalo blue line, outraced two defenders to the other end, and beat Sorokin with a shot off the post on the rush.

HIGHLIGHTS

POSTGAME SOUND

UP NEXT

The Sabres will break for the holidays before returning home to host the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday. It will be Winterfest at KeyBank Center, featuring holiday-themed activities and commemorative cookie cutters given to the first 7,500 fans.

Tickets are available here.

The game will be nationally televised on ESPN2.