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The New York Islanders dropped their third game in a row tonight, closing out their road trip with a 6-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres.
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) February 16, 2022
The Islanders went back down early in the second period, giving up a shorthanded goal to Tage Thompson on a lazy defensive breakdown. However, New York tied the game again a little later in the frame, as Zdeno Chara’s shot went off a skate in front and Anders Lee poked the puck in. The Islanders had excellent chances to take the lead on a power play and generated some good opportunities after the man advantage as well but couldn’t capitalize. Then after New York took some penalties of their own and couldn’t get the puck out late in the period, it ended up costing them, as Alex Tuch knocked down a point shot to give Buffalo the lead with under a second remaining in the period.
New York did manage to tie the game midway through the third period though, as Kyle Palmieri somehow beat Tokarski from a bad angle. After a fairly even period, however, Victor Olofsson took a pass and snuck a shot through Sorokin to get Buffalo their lead back. The Sabres added two empty net goals after that, securing a 6-3 win.
The Islanders were outshot by a 41-33 margin against a team well outside of the playoff race and while they did generate some good chances at times, it was still disappointing overall. They can’t capitalize on the opportunities they do have and continue to make avoidable defensive mistakes.
It’s another deflating loss, given the quality of competition and how desperately they need to win games like this. They continue to slip further below .500, now at 17-20-6.
New York’s next game comes on Thursday against the Boston Bruins.
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