Buffalo Sabres defense, goaltending shows up in shutout of Islanders

The Buffalo Sabres scored their second shutout win of the season with a 2-0 win over the New York Islanders in an adrenaline-filled affair. 

The Buffalo Sabres shocked the hockey universe in a big win over the New Jersey Devils last night. But to make it two in a row? Don’t make us laugh, right? Turns out, the hockey universe was wrong again as the Sabres skated into UBS Arena and shut out the New York Islanders.

In a game that saw the Sabres defense show up once again, not necessarily in the physicality department, but once again in positioning and containing the Isles dangerous forecheck, Buffalo needed just one goal with six and a half minutes to go in the game to take the lead and not look back.

At the 13:31 mark, Captain Kyle Okposo scored, before Jeff Skinner iced the game in the final minute. The win improves the Sabres to 76 points on the season, and they have now officially accumulated more points than they did in 2021-22 with 10 games to spare.

Buffalo Sabres win on defense, outstanding goaltending

While the Sabres held the Islanders in check, our First Star of the Night, Eric Comrie, saved all 26 shots on goal. It was Comrie’s first start since the Sabres 10-4 meltdown on March 9th, and about the best bounce back effort you could have asked for from the much-maligned goaltender who is currently facing staunch competition from Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and eventually, Devon Levi, for a spot on this team next season.

So far, Comrie is 1 for 1, and it will be interesting to see if he can keep up the effort in his next starts. Through most of the season, the Sabres goaltenders have had their moments, but the consistency has yet to show.

With 76 points, the Sabres, at the time of this writing, have moved to four points out of the WC2 spot, behind the Pittsburgh Penguins. Pittsburgh plays the Washington Capitals (76 points), and if Washington can take it, it will work in the Blue and Gold’s favor.