Islanders Drop 4th Straight Game, Lose 5-3 to Buffalo

On Saturday afternoon, the New York Islanders faced the Buffalo Sabres, a chance to rebound following a tough 6-3 loss to the New York Rangers on Thursday night. But the same result occurred, as the New York Islanders fell to the Buffalo Sabres by a score of 5-3.

Despite being outshot 12-6 in the first period, the New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres each had a goal. Casey Mittelstadt scored his fifth of the season at 12:11 of the first period, while Mathew Barzal netted his 15th of the year at 17:09.

Puck movement to Barzy 👀 pic.twitter.com/UtitTxZGxB

— Isles on MSG+ (@IslesMSGN) April 23, 2022

The second period is where things took a turn for the worst for the Islanders.

The Buffalo Sabres lit the lamp just over a minute into the second period, as Rasmus Dahlen rifled one past the blocker of New York Islanders netminder Ilya Sorokin on the power play.

That goal was followed by tallies from Tage Thompson at 4:05 of the second period and Vinny Hinostroza at 12:48 of the second period, 37th and 13th goals of the season, respectively.

That put the Islanders down 4-1 after forty minutes of play, a period in which they were outshot 10-5.

The New York Islanders, however, did not go down without a fight.

Noah Dobson​ notched his 12th of the season at 8:45 of the third period.

Noah takes it by himself and goes toy department for his 12th of the season! pic.twitter.com/DdRFmI94YL

— Isles on MSG+ (@IslesMSGN) April 23, 2022

A couple of minutes later, Kieffer Bellows scored his fifth of the season as the New York Islanders found themselves down a goal with just 9:38 to play in the third peirod.

Kieffer Bellows sneaks the redirect on Pulock's point shot past Tokarski to bring the Islanders back within 1!#Isles pic.twitter.com/DTvC1Tyo3t

— Hockey Daily 365 (@HockeyDaily365) April 23, 2022

But that’s as close as they would get as Jeff Skinner’s 33rd of the season at 12:40 of the third period gave Buffalo a two-goal lead.

New York Islanders netminder Ilya Sorokin stopped 30 of the 35 shots he faced in the contest. On the other side, Dustin Tokarski stopped 19 of 22 shots that came his way.

“It’s not mentally easy to come back,” New York Islanders forward Mathew Barzal said following the loss. “We’re not happy. Can’t be happy right now. That’s the mindset.”

The Islanders are now 35-33-10 on the season, with four games remaining before the regular season comes to a close.

The New York Islanders are back in action Sunday night against the Carolina Hurricanes at UBS Arena. Puck drop is slated for 1 PM ET.