Not a lot of acton for most of the first period between the Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders. We only saw a total of 12 shots in the hit the net between both clubs.
The Sabres would get on the board first late in the period. Jack Eichel won an offensive zone draw clean to Jeff Skiner. He snapped his 34th goal of the season high stick side on Robin Lehner.
Skinner Goal
1-0 Buffalo pic.twitter.com/PRebs6B3js— Ben Mathewson (@Ben_Mathewson) February 13, 2019
Buffalo looked to be headed to a lead after 20 minutes, but Rasmus Ristolainen fumbled a puck in the final seconds periods in his own end. The puck ended up on the stick of Casey Cizikas and he quickly roofed it on Linus Ullmark to tie the game at one with 22 seconds remaining in the period.
That’s how things would end after the first period.
The second period wasn’t much a barn burner either. We have 25 total shots on goal through two periods. Buffalo only has 10 shots on goal in the first 40 minutes, but they’ve capitalized on their chances.
Eichel set up his second goal of the game to give the Sabres back the lead. He came down the wing on a two on one with Jason Pominville. A great backhand pass on the stick of Pominville allowed him to put his 13th of the season by Lehner.
Pominville Goal
2-1 Buffalo pic.twitter.com/NvpKWLRJPx— Ben Mathewson (@Ben_Mathewson) February 13, 2019
Beyond that, not much else happened.
It remained a tight checking game for most the final period as well. The Islanders had a few opportunities to tie the game up. Including a breakway from Cal Clutterbuck, which Ullmark stopped, and a long offensive shift by the Mat Barzal line.
With under three minutes remaining the Johan Larsson line that was having a good night put the game away. Kyle Okposo had his shot from the high slot squeak between the legs of Lehner. Larsson was there to make sure it got all the way across the line to seal the 3-1 win.
Final: Sabres 3, Islanders 1
Shots on Goal: Sabres 22 | Islanders 25
Sabres Goal Scorers: Jeff Skinner (34), Jason Pominville (13), Johan Larsson (5)
Islanders Goal Scorers: Casey Cizikas (13)
Three Stars of the Game
1. Linus Ullmark (24 saves on 25 shots)
2. Jack Eichel (2 A)
3. Johan Larsson (1 G)