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Buffalo Sabres Opponent Outlook: New York Islanders

By Melissa Kania

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As the Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders head into the 2015-2016 NHL season, some things change, and others remain the same.

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Last season, John Tavares led all Islanders skaters with four points – two goals, two assists – in three games against the Buffalo Sabres. Kyle Okposo and Travis Hamonic also each put up three points against the Sabres, putting up 1-2 and 0-3, respectively.

All three of those players return to the Isles for the upcoming season, and it’s likely that they’ll – especially Tavares – continue to produce big for their team.

Josh Bailey and Frans Nielsen each recorded two points against Buffalo last season; they’ll both return as well.

For the Sabres, Drew Stafford was the team’s best player against the Islanders last year, putting up one goal and two assists in four games. Nicolas Deslauriers, Marcus Foligno and Josh Gorges each recorded a pair of points. Of course, Stafford is now gone, but how will guys like Jack Eichel, Evander Kane and Ryan O’Reilly help the Sabres against opponents like the Isles this season?

Overall last season, the Islanders won two of three meetings with the Buffalo Sabres. They outscored the Sabres by a 9-6 margin and outshot them 103-57, including a game where they allowed the Sabres just ten shots on goal.

The first meeting of the season, however, was Buffalo’s victory after the Islanders blew a 3-0 lead going into the third period. The Sabres scored three to tie things up, the game went to a shootout, and Buffalo would leave victorious.

Nick Leddy opened the scoring within the first five minutes, with Tavares adding a pair in the middle frame to give the Islanders a commanding 3-0 lead after 40 minutes.

Deslauriers, Girgensons and Chris Stewart then scored a trio of goals in a span of 5:12 to quickly tie things up and change the tide of the game. Tyler Ennis had the shootout winner, and Buffalo walked away with two points.

The Islanders won the next two meetings, 3-2 and 3-0.

The second game between the teams saw the struggling Sabres put up just 10 shots on Jaroslav Halak. Colin McDonald, Anders Lee and Mikhail Grabovski scored for the Islanders, while Marcus Foligno and Stafford tallied for Buffalo.

Foligno earned first-star honors with two points, a plus-2 and five hits in 15:21 ice time.

Kyle Okposo, Brock Nelson and Nikolay Kulemin scored for the Islanders as they took the final meeting of the season, 3-0. Andrey Makarov had 33 saves in the loss.

Last season, the Islanders finished fifth in the Eastern Conference with 101 points and a 47-28-7 record. They went 25-14-2 at home and 22-14-5 on the road. Tavares led the Islanders with 86 points, including team-high 38 goals and 48 assists. Okposo was second with 51 points, while Ryan Strome notched 50 points.

They made it to the playoffs, but fell in the first round in seven games to the Washington Capitals.

The Islanders have made several roster changes this offseason, first sending defenseman Griffin Reinhart to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for two draft picks in 2015.

More recently, the Isles shipped Michael Grabner to Toronto. In exchange, they received forwards Taylor Beck and Carter Verhaeghe, defensemen Tom Nilsson and Matt Finn and goaltender Christopher Gibson.

Through free agency, the Isles picked up Marek Zidlicky, former Buffalo Sabres forward Steve Bernier, and goaltender Thomas Greiss. They also signed Louis Leblanc, Joe Whitney, Ben Homstrom and Justin Florek. The Isles re-signed Thomas Hickey, Brock Nelson, Kevin Czuczman and Mike Halmo.

Departures: Harry Zolnierczyk, Colin McDonald, Aaron Ness, and former Buffalo Sabres netminder Michal Neuvirth, who signed with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Of course, the biggest change in regards to the Islanders this season isn’t on the roster itself, but the venue. The Isles complete the move to Barclays Center in Brooklyn this year, closing the doors on a historic period at Nassau Coliseum.

The Sabres will visit Brooklyn for the first time on Sunday, November 1st. The Isles will then come to Buffalo for a New Year’s Eve meeting at First Niagara Center (6 pm) before the teams close out the season series in Buffalo’s final game of the year, April 6th, in Brooklyn.

Next: Evander Kane Stands Out

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