This was the final game before the holiday break and the Buffalo Sabres were looking to head into it on a positive note.
They did exactly the opposite as they fell by a 5-1 score to the New York Islanders on Friday night.
That lone goal was scored by Zemgus Girgensons to break the shutout with just a couple of minutes remaining in the third period. Zach Bogosian earned his first point of the season with the primary assist on the goal.
Head coach Dan Bylsma elected to go with Anders Nilsson in goal after Robin Lehner received the start against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night. The move didn’t pay off as Nilsson allowed five goals on 32 shots.
For the seventh consecutive game, the opposing team scored the first goal. At first, the Sabres were proving they could bounce back from it, but it’s easily one of their biggest issues right now.
The Islanders started Thomas Greiss in goal and he made things look easy, stopping 28 of 29 shots on the night.
“We had six games, 12 points before the break here and ended up with six points,” Bylsma said. “It’s .500 hockey, but it feels a lot more disappointing than that.”
It’s disappointing because the team hasn’t won any of the last four games and it’s caused them to drop back to dead last in the Eastern Conference. After a couple weeks of moving up the ladder, the Sabres had many opportunities to keep improving.
Instead, Jack Eichel and the offense have been silence and the defense and goaltending haven’t been able to step up either.
“We looked like a tired team and looked like it the last two games. The break comes at a good time.”
Once Tuesday arrives, the Sabres will have some more opportunities as they’ll play the Detroit Red Wings and the Boston Bruins on Thursday for the first game of a home-and-home set.
The Sabres will soon have to determine what needs to be done as the halfway point of the season is just around the corner. After an extremely disappointing performance against the Islanders, all the they can do is look ahead.
“It was start to finish,” Brian Gionta said. “We couldn’t generate anything, we have to figure out what type of team we need to be.”