OSHAWA, Ont. — A pair of new faces in Buffalo has given fans of the Sabres reason for optimism.
Jeff Skinner had a pair of goals and Rasmus Dahlin scored his first goal in a Sabres uniform as Buffalo defeated the New York Islanders 5-4 at Tribute Communities Centre on Friday.
Skinner scored both of his goals in the second period, while Dahlin added an assist on Skinner's second goal.
"It's always nice to get on the board. It's nice to execute on offence, Skinner said. "We have a chance to clean some things up in the next week or so and be ready for the regular season."
Buffalo hasn't earned a playoff berth since 2011. After several years of finishing at or near the bottom of the NHL standing, there is a sense that this could be the year Buffalo breaks through and shows significant improvement.
The optimism began this summer when Buffalo won the NHL Draft Lottery and used the first-overall selection to pick Dahlin.
"I've learned so many things about the systems and how the other teams are playing," Dahlin said. "I've learned a lot so it's been a great pre-season."
The Islanders opened the scoring in the first period. After Sabres goaltender Carter Hutton saved an initial shot from the point by Devon Toews, Anthony Beauvillier picked up the rebound and passed the puck to a wide-open Josh Bailey, who beat Hutton for a 1-0 lead at 7:22.
The Sabres responded less than a minute later. Brendan Guhle redirected a Jason Pominville shot from the slot to beat Islanders goaltender Robin Lehner to tie the game 1-1 at 8:20.
In the second period, the Sabres opened the floodgates. Casey Nelson's shot after a faceoff eluded Lehner to give Buffalo a 2-1 lead. Dahlin scored his first goal of the pre-season for a 3-1 Sabres advantage.
"I just shot it and luckily it went in so it was good," Dhalin said.
The Islanders would cut Buffalo's lead to 3-2 with a power-play goal from Anders Lee at 4:36.
Midway through the period, Thomas Greiss came on to play the remainder of the game in net for the Islanders.
Skinner scored the first of his two goals on the first shot Greiss would face, taking a pass from Sam Reinhart in front of the Islanders net and beating Greiss on the glove side for a 4-2 lead at 11:34. Only 90 seconds later Skinner, acquired in an off-season trade with Carolina, banked a puck off the back of Greiss and into the net at 13:04.
"I took a peak but Okie (Kyle Okposo) was still down so I'm thinking even if it doesn't go in, it creates some action in front and maybe somebody else gets a rebound," Skinner said of his second goal.
"Fortunately for me, it banked off him (Greiss) and went in.
The Islander capped the scoring frenzy in the period when Ryan Pulock beat Hutton with a slapshot at 15:34 while on a 5-on-3 man advantage.
In the third period, Lee scored his second goal of the game with a wrist shot that beat Hutton to cut Buffalo's lead to 5-4 at 15:18.
"I would have liked to have ended it 5-3, the way we came into the third period, it's a valuable lesson, not just for our young players but our whole team," Sabres coach Phil Housley said. "When we managed it well, we're very aggressive in the third period."
The neutral-site pre-season game was the last for both teams before the regular season begins.
The game was scheduled back in December 2017 with the hope that John Tavares would be returning as an Islander to play in the arena where his junior career began. His banner and number hangs in the rafters of what used to be known as General Motors Centre.
On July 1, Tavares elected to leave the Islanders and signed a seven-year $77 million contract with Toronto.
NOTE: In the second period, Casey Cizikas was hit along the side boards by Jake McCabe. The Islanders forward immediately went to the dressing room and did not return to the game. The team didn't provide an update, but through a spokesperson said they would know more about Cizikas' status on Saturday.
David Alter, The Canadian Press
