Sabres rout Islanders to end winless streak

ELMONT, NY – For weeks, the Buffalo Sabres dissected their shortcomings in search of answers and a win.

They found both in decisive fashion Monday night at UBS Arena.

A 7-1 win over the New York Islanders, one month removed from their previous victory Nov. 23 at San Jose, ended the Sabres’ winless streak at 13 games and sends them to their three-day holiday break on a high note.

“We battled for a long time now and finally it went our way,” said captain Rasmus Dahlin. “When you do the right things over and over again, good things will happen to you.”

“I think when you go through something like this, a journey that is awfully painful, when you come out of it, you should be a better team,” said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff. “There was a lot of weight lifted off a lot of guys’ shoulders.”

Six different Sabres – Jiri Kulich twice, as well as Beck Malenstyn, Jason Zucker, Zach Benson, Jack Quinn and Tage Thompson – found the back of the net en route to a season-high goal output for Buffalo.

And Dahlin, after missing eight of the previous nine games due to back spasms, logged the first four-assist game by an NHL defenseman this season.

But more than their offensive production, the Sabres spoke most glowingly postgame of the complete team effort, highlighted by shot blocking and defensive-zone buy-in, that Saturday’s performance in Boston laid the foundation for.

“Score seven goals, great, but our D zone, we didn’t give up anything,” Thompson said.

“Boston, I thought we did a lot of really good things, and we didn’t come up with that win,” Zucker said. “But ultimately, I was proud to be wearing that jersey with these guys, because they were blocking shots, doing the right things and played a hell of a game, and tonight did the same.

“I think we had a stretch during this losing streak that we weren’t as excited for those type things,” Zucker added of the Sabres’ season-high 30 blocked shots and stick-tap celebrations of those plays. “It takes a lot of courage for these guys, Mal and Bo and everyone, to be blocking shots like they did. So it was good to have a little bit more voice to that throughout the game.”

Only, this time, Buffalo complemented that effort in their own zone with a finishing touch in New York’s.

“It was huge to score some goals,” Zucker said. “Throughout this entire stretch, we’ve had some really good games we haven’t scored ... we’ve had some really bad games that we scored in. So it was good to have a complete game and to get that win tonight.”

Sure, Buffalo dug itself a deep hole in collecting just three points across 13 games. For now, however, the Sabres feel relieved to have put their toughest stretch behind them.

“Great morale in the room right now heading into break, a much-needed break for us,” Thompson said. “Mentally and physically to just now regroup and enjoy time with the family and reset for second half of the season with a win under our belt and some good mojo.”

Here’s more from a cathartic win on Long Island.

1. Encouraged by their performance Saturday at Boston but not the result, the Sabres on Monday parlayed that energy into a dominant first period.

“Tonight we just said, regardless of what happens out there, we’re going to shift after shift just do the right things and let the chips fall where they may,” Thompson said.

That first chip fell behind Ilya Sorokin just 2:07 into the game thanks to an energetic offensive-zone shift by Buffalo’s fourth line; an effective cycle opened a lane for Jacob Bryson, who snapped a point shot for Malenstyn to tip past the New York netminder.

And at 16:49, just four seconds after a man advantage expired, net-front persistence by Buffalo’s second power-play unit led to a one-timer goal for Kulich. One wide-angle shot by Dahlin led to another for Dylan Cozens, who stuck with the rebound and pushed a backhand pass out to the uncovered Kulich.

The Sabres took to the locker room a 2-0 lead that might’ve been 3-0 had Peyton Krebs not drilled the post on a last-minute 2-on-1.

“We had two 2-on-1s again … we could have taken that game to 3- or 4-0 in that first period,” Ruff said.

A recurring theme of the winless streak was first-period leads dissolving in the second. This time, Buffalo extended its advantage to 3-0 before staving off the Islanders’ subsequent surge.

“Give them the outside, if they want to hold onto the puck,” Zucker said. “Let them have it on the outside, pack it in tight, block shots and do what it takes to weather that storm. And I thought we did a good job.”

2. “We see what a difference Dahlin makes to our club,” Ruff said after his captain’s return to the lineup.

Composure with and without the puck, elite vision and passing accuracy, smooth transitions from offense to defense – whatever the skill, Dahlin sets the standard for Buffalo’s blue-line play and adds an element to the Sabres’ game that was sorely missed in recent weeks.

His four assists, in addition to being an NHL first by a defenseman this season, were the most by a Sabres blueliner since Toni Lydman tallied four on Feb. 27, 2008.

“When you play good D and keep it simple, good things will happen offensively,” Dahlin said. “I think our arrivals in the D zone was really good. How we sorted out in the D zone, we didn’t let them on the inside. It was a solid game defensively and then some skill came out of it from the guys.”

3. Dahlin’s puck-moving prowess was especially impactful on Buffalo’s power play.

“You put a guy like Dahlin on the back end, again, it makes a big difference,” Ruff said. “We’ve been pushing a couple guys in who haven’t been a full-time quarterback.”

The Sabres captain re-assumed that role admirably in his 3:38 of power-play ice time – with Dahlin in charge, Buffalo moved fluidly throughout the offensive zone and executed quick passes to create shooting opportunities.

On Buffalo’s third goal, Dahlin sent a cross-zone pass to Jack Quinn at the left circle, who tapped it back to the high slot for Zucker to fire home a one-timer. Such plays should be expected from such a skilled top unit.

“You’ve just got to go out there and play,” Dahlin said. “I think in this whole season honestly, we’ve been thinking too much what we want to do. Today we just went out and played and played on instincts. The amount of talent we have in this room, we should be able to just go out and play, and it starts with hard work.”

Officially, Zucker’s goal was Buffalo’s only one in three man-advantage chances, but Kulich’s first tally was also on the power-play, for all intents and purposes – he scored four seconds after Alexander Romanov’s penalty expired and before the New York blueliner could get back on defense.

“The first one, we’ll count it, in the locker room at least,” Zucker joked.

4. After being pulled from his previous two starts, Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen responded by stopping 27 of 28 shots.

“He made some really big saves at a key time,” Ruff said.

Luukkonen made a handful of difficult saves, but Buffalo’s defensive effort made for a relatively manageable night in net.

“The very few chances we did give up were pretty routine saves for Upie for the most part,” Thompson said. “He made a couple big saves for us. Teams are gonna get chances, but we really gave them nothing and coming through the neutral zone we didn’t mess around with the puck.”

Up next

After a three-day holiday break, the Sabres return home for a Friday night matchup with the Chicago Blackhawks. Tickets are available here.

Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game is exclusively available on ESPN2.