Buffalo, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Nicolas Deslauriers, Zemgus Girgensons and
Chris Stewart scored in the third period to pull Buffalo out of a 3-0 hole and
the Sabres snapped a four-game losing streak with a 4-3 shootout win over the
New York Islanders on Saturday night.
Buffalo’s goals, highlighted by Girgensons’ short-handed tally, came in a span
of 5:12 in the period. Stewart tied the score with 8:09 remaining.
Jhonas Enroth made 33 saves in the win, including 17 after the second period,
then stopped two shots in the shootout after the first Islanders skater fired
wide.
He improved to 5-0 in shootouts this season.
“What a gutsy win,” said Sabres forward Drew Stafford, who had two assists.
The Islanders placed goaltender Jaroslav Halak on injured reserve Saturday
with a lower-body injury and recalled Kevin Poulin from the AHL’s Bridgeport
Sound Tigers to make his first appearance in the NHL this season.
Poulin made 17 saves in the first two periods, then allowed three goals on six
shots in the third.
John Tavares had two goals in the loss and Nick Leddy scored one. Tavares made
one too many moves as the last skater in the shootout and Enroth stopped him
with his right pad.
Deslauriers finally got Buffalo on the board 6:39 into the third period with a
snap shot that hugged the ice to beat Poulin, and he set up Girgensons’ short-
handed goal with a sharp pass through the neutral zone.
Girgensons fought off defenseman Johnny Boychuk to score and Stewart found the
back of the net just 1:50 later on a pass from Stafford, who was just out of
the penalty box.
Earlier, Leddy gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead 4:33 into the game with a
slapshot from inside the blue line that beat Enroth’s blocker.
Tavares scored twice in a span of 3:09 in the second period to make it 3-0. He
beat Enroth with a backhand after a nice individual effort through the slot
just shy of the 12-minute mark, then buried a one-timer near the crease at
15:05 off Josh Bailey’s pass from the low right side.
Game Notes
Josh Gorges also had two assists for the Sabres. Bailey and Okposo had two
assists each for New York … The Islanders host Washington on Monday before
heading out on a seven-game road trip … Buffalo plays at Ottawa on Monday.
