NHL

Buffalo Sabres at New York Islanders

· National Hockey League
Final
5 - 0

Alex Lyon makes 26 saves, ties Buffalo record with 9th straight win as Sabres blank Islanders 5-0

Alex Tuch lights the lamp for Sabres

Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin and Alex Tuch also scored as the Sabres won their third straight and for the fifth time in seven games. Ryan McLeod and Mattias Samuelsson each had two assists.

Lyon, who signed with the Sabres in July after two seasons with Detroit, recorded the sixth shutout of his career and tied the Buffalo record of Gerry Desjardins (1976-77) with nine consecutive wins.

Buffalo improved to 18-3-1 in its last 22 games.

David Rittich made 16 saves for the Islanders, who were playing their first home game after a seven-game trip in which they went 3-3-1.

Rittich, who last started on Jan. 17 against Calgary, entered the game with a 4-2-2 record 2.46 goals-against average versus Buffalo. He slipped to 11-7-3 this season.

Zucker opened the scoring 33 seconds into the second period, scoring on a wrist shot, offa rebound of a shot by Jack Quinn. Thompson extended the lead to two goals, scoring past a sliding Rittich at 19:47 of the second.

Zucker's second goal of the game, 25 seconds into the third, stretched the lead to 3-0. Dahlin scored into an empty net at 14:02 of the period and Tuch completed the scoring approximately 30 seconds later by tipping a shot from Samuelsson by Rittich.

Bo Horvat was back on the ice with the Islanders after being sidelined for nine games due to a lower-body injury.

Up next Sabres: At Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday.

Islanders: At Philadelphia Flyers on Monday.

Regular Season Series

BUF leads series 2-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 2nd Period 0:33 Jason Zucker Goal (12) Snap Shot, assists: Jack Quinn (19), Ryan McLeod (22)
Goal 2nd Period 19:47 Tage Thompson Goal (27) Snap Shot, assists: Zach Benson (18), Mattias Samuelsson (19)
Goal 3rd Period 0:25 Jason Zucker Goal (13) Snap Shot, assists: Ryan McLeod (23)
Goal 3rd Period 14:02 Rasmus Dahlin Goal (8) Wrist Shot, assists: Peyton Krebs (15)
Goal 3rd Period 14:38 Alex Tuch Goal (18) Deflected, assists: Mattias Samuelsson (20), Michael Kesselring (1)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/buf.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originBUF https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/nyi.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originNYI
11 Blocked Shots 13
16 Hits 24
7 Takeaways 5
21 Shots 26
0 Power Play Goals 0
2 Power Play Opportunities 3
0.0 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
13 Faceoffs Won 37
26.0 Faceoff Win Percent 74.0
14 Giveaways 16
4 Total Penalties 3
8 Penalty Minutes 6
New York Islanders New York Islanders Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Alexander Romanov, D Injured Reserve Mar 12
Pierre Engvall, LW Injured Reserve Mar 12
Semyon Varlamov, G Injured Reserve Mar 12
Kyle Palmieri, C Injured Reserve Nov 30
Buffalo Sabres Buffalo Sabres Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Tanner Pearson, LW Day-To-Day Mar 15
Mattias Samuelsson, D Day-To-Day Mar 15
Colten Ellis, G Day-To-Day Mar 15
Tyson Kozak, C Day-To-Day Mar 15
Jiri Kulich, C Injured Reserve Mar 6

Game Information

UBS Arena

Location: Elmont, NY
Attendance: 17,255 | Capacity:

2025-26 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Buffalo 41 20 88 6
Tampa Bay 40 21 84 4
Montreal 36 19 82 10
Boston 37 23 80 6
Detroit 36 23 80 8
Ottawa 33 23 75 9
Florida 33 29 69 3
Toronto 28 27 68 12

2025-26 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Carolina 42 18 90 6
Pittsburgh 33 18 81 15
NY Islanders 38 24 81 5
Columbus 34 21 79 11
Philadelphia 31 23 74 12
Washington 33 27 74 8
New Jersey 33 31 68 2
NY Rangers 28 30 64 8
Full Standings