The New York Islanders outlasted the Buffalo Sabres by a score of 1-0. While the pace of play was fast and mostly even, the Sabres couldn’t find the back of the net and lost their second game in a row.
After a tough loss in our nation’s capital last night, hopes were high for a bounce-back win against the New York Islanders. With two stellar goal-tending performances, it was a fluky bank shot by Derick Brassard off of Carter Hutton’s right skate that ultimately did it. This goal came almost 15 minutes into the opening frame.
Although there’s not many highlights to point out from tonight’s matchup, it should be noted that Carter Hutton was exceptional throughout the entire game. He would go on to make 20 saves on 21 shots for a dominant .952 save percentage.
Semyon Varlamov was also stellar for the Islanders tonight as he posted his first shutout of the season, saving all of Buffalo’s 27 shots. It should also be noted that the Islanders played a frustratingly strong defensive game which prevented the Sabres from any grade-A scoring opportunities.
After a very hot start to the season, Buffalo’s power play continues to struggle as they went 0-3 on the man advantage tonight. While they did possess some good puck possession, they never really had a great look as the Islander penalty kill clogged the slot extremely well.
We're live with Coach Krueger after tonight's loss to the Islanders. https://t.co/cX0914Uztt
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) November 3, 2019
The Islanders keep their win streak alive as it now stands at 9 in a row.
The Sabres now have their first back to back losses of the season. They will look to get back on track this coming Friday against the Tampa Bay Lightning at 2:00 pm EST in Stockholm Sweden for the NHL Global Series.