Sabres win 3rd in a row, 3 points out of playoff position

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The Sabres scored three goals in a 5:13 span of the second period to tally their third consecutive victory, 4-0 against the New York Islanders on Thursday night at KeyBank Center, striding within three points of the final wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 21 saves for his 5th career shutout, tied for third in the NHL, 18-year-old Zach Benson had two goals for the first time in his rookie season, Victor Olofsson and Dylan Cozens also, and Buffalo’s record (32-30-5) rose two wins above .500 for the first time this season.

Winning for the eighth time in 13 games over the past four weeks, the Sabres continue closing in on the Islanders and Red Wings, the team they beat two nights ago and visit on Saturday, after Detroit lost its seventh in a row at Arizona on Thursday night. Buffalo was tied with Washington in the standings with 69 points before the Capitals’ late game Tuesday at Seattle.

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“I think we have confidence. We know we can beat any team. And, we know that every game matters a lot right now,” Cozens said. “If we’re gonna go down, we’re gonna go down with a fight. We’re going to play like we honestly have nothing to lose.”

The Sabres took advantage of an Islanders team closing a four-game road trip, with the first three games played on the West Coast. The challenge for Buffalo now is opening a five-game road swing that begins at Detroit on Saturday.

“I don’t think we need to change much. It’s just trying to keep going what we’re doing right now,” said Luukkonen, who didn’t have an NHL shutout before this season, and now has four in his past 21 starts. “Once you kind of lose sight of the next game and start to think too far ahead, you really don’t do any favors for yourself.”

The Islanders have dropped two straight since enjoying a season-best 6-0 run, and at least get to return home to regroup. Ilya Sorokin stopped 33 shots in dropping to 8-3-2 in his past 13.

Though not tested often, Luukkonen made several key saves. His best came with 8:02 left in the second period, when Luukkonen got across to get a piece of Horvat’s blast from the right circle with the puck trickling just wide of the far post.

The 25-year-old is 10-3-1 in his past 14, in which he’s allowed a combined 28 goals, and 16-8-1 since claiming the starting job in late December.

Olofsson opened the scoring 4:28 into the second period with Buffalo capitalizing on the NHL’s worst-ranked penalty-killing team.

It took just 18 seconds after Anders Lee was penalized for interference for Buffalo to win the faceoff and have JJ Peterka thread a pass through the middle to Olofsson, who one-timed a shot from a bad angle to the right of the net.

Cozens made it 2-0 by converting a rebound in front after Sorokin got his right pad out to stop Connor Clifton’s shot from the right circle. Benson scored by deflecting in Henri Jokiharju’s shot from the blue line, and with teammate Jordan Greenway screening Sorokin.

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Jonah Bronstein joined the WIVB squad in 2022 as a digital sports reporter. The Buffalonian has covered the Bills, Sabres, Bandits, Bisons, colleges, high schools and other notable sporting events in Western New York since 2005, for publications including The Associated Press, The Buffalo News, and Niagara Gazette. Read more of his work here.

The Associated Press contributed.

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