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
Tony DeAngelo, D Out Mar 26
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
Noah Ostlund, C Day-To-Day Mar 27
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 44 20 96 8
Tampa Bay 44 21 94 6
Montreal 40 21 90 10
Boston 40 24 88 8
Ottawa 38 24 86 10
Detroit 38 25 84 8
Toronto 31 29 75 13
Florida 35 33 73 3

2025-26 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Carolina 45 20 96 6
Pittsburgh 36 20 88 16
Columbus 38 23 87 11
NY Islanders 41 27 87 5
Philadelphia 35 24 82 12
Washington 36 28 81 9
New Jersey 37 32 76 2
NY Rangers 28 35 65 9
Full Standings