Storylines
1. Thompson’s point streak
Tage Thompson enters tonight on a seven-game point streak, with six goals and five assists in that span. An eight-game point streak would be the longest of his career.
Thompson, an alternate captain for the first time this season, has been a beacon of consistency for the Sabres both in terms of his offensive production and his commitment to the team’s newfound identity under Ruff. On the bench, he’s been a vocal leader.
“He's playing with a lot of passion,” Ruff said. “He's working extremely hard. His tracking, his work ethic has been great. And I think when you're back on the bench and you hear a guy that is being a great example on the ice, it's really good for our club.”
Thompson enters Friday tied for second in the NHL with seven even-strength goals, one behind Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov.
2. The power play
The Sabres’ power play has scored in two consecutive games – both off the stick of forward Jason Zucker – after opening the season 0-for-22.
Sabres assistant coach Seth Appert attributed the recent success to steady improvement he has seen throughout the season in terms of how the units have entered the zone, won battles to maintain possession off missed shots, and moved the puck to generate scoring chances.
“It’s been a slow, steady march of buying into the process of how we enter, how we get pucks back, how we attack retrievals, how we solve pressure out of retrievals, and all of those things need to be in order for the players to then allow their skill to shine,” Appert said.
“And so, I think we’ve done a better job of that. Not perfect. We’ve got a lot of work to do. And I think in the last five, six games, we’ve been converting all of that into scoring chances and then now a few of them have started going into the net.”
The Sabres will have an opportunity to take another step against the Islanders' penalty kill, which is tied for last in the NHL with a 62.5-percent success rate.
3. Scouting the Islanders
Despite their low percentage on the penalty kill, the Islanders have been characteristically good at limiting goals against this season. They’ve allowed 16 goals at 5-on-5, tied for sixth fewest in the NHL.
New York’s offense has been the key culprit in its 3-5-2 start, including three straight losses entering Friday. The Islanders are coming off a 2-0 loss to the Blue Jackets on Wednesday, their fourth time being shut out through the first 10 games of this season.
The Islanders rank last in the league with an average of 2.10 goals per game. Forwards Kyle Palmieri and Brock Nelson lead the team with four apiece.
