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
Alex Tuch, RW Day-To-Day Mar 12
Tyson Kozak, C Day-To-Day Mar 12
Jiri Kulich, C Injured Reserve Mar 6
Jordan Greenway, LW Injured Reserve Feb 25
Justin Danforth, RW Injured Reserve Jan 26

Game Information

UBS Arena

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

2025-26 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Buffalo 40 19 86 6
Tampa Bay 39 20 82 4
Montreal 36 18 82 10
Detroit 36 22 79 7
Boston 36 22 78 6
Ottawa 32 23 73 9
Florida 32 29 67 3
Toronto 27 27 65 11

2025-26 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Carolina 41 17 88 6
Pittsburgh 32 17 79 15
NY Islanders 37 23 79 5
Columbus 33 21 76 10
Philadelphia 30 23 71 11
Washington 32 27 71 7
New Jersey 32 30 66 2
NY Rangers 26 30 60 8
Full Standings