Game 5: Breaking down the walls

It was oh-so-close to being a shutout for Eric Comrie, but it was the Sabres offense in a 3-1 win over the Islanders that took center stage.

Sabres players mess around during an optional morning skate on Saturday ahead of their game against the New York Islanders. (Photo: Joe Yerdon)

We’re going to keep this one mostly short and semi-sweet because duties with the Associated Press required the bulk of my attention this evening. The Buffalo Sabres took down the New York Islanders 3-1 after they got a goal and an assist from Jeff Skinner and two brilliant assists from Casey Mittelstadt. They also got goals from Mattias Samuelsson (right?!) and Dylan Cozens.

Eric Comrie was nearly the lead story of the game but lost his shutout with under a minute to play after a Noah Dobson shot was partially blocked by Cozens and it hit Connor Clifton in the chest and fluttered past Comrie. He made 24 saves and played very well.

It should be noted the Islanders also looked dog-ass tired about 30 minutes into the game and it was at that point the Sabres really started to push the pace and push the Islanders’ buttons after they lost a tough one in overtime Friday night to the New Jersey Devils.

This game was the best effort of the young season for the Sabres. They knew what they had to do to break through the Islanders’ defense and applied all of that knowledge throughout the game. They got pucks in deep, they wore down New York appropriately considering the situation with it being the second game of a back-to-back, and most importantly they scored the first goal of the game (the first three, if you will).

Let’s empty out the brain tank with some thoughts on what was a good win that will assuredly raise a few more questions in the short term.