New York Islanders

The Buffalo Sabres were outplayed from start to finish in a 5-1 loss Saturday night against the New York Islanders.  At times it seemed the Sabres were playing in slow motion as the Islanders beat the Sabres to loose pucks and controlled play nearly the entire game.

Jack Eichel had only one shot on goal, but he set Jeff Skinner and Jason Pominville for goals to extend his point streak to six games. Pominville's goal was the game winner.

Jeff Skinner scored twice and Rasmus Dahlin scored a goal and assisted on another

And after five straight losses on home ice the Buffalo Sabres finally won their 1,000th home victory in franchise history.

What appeared to have been a great save by Robin Lehner was overturned by video review and set the stage for an Islanders overtime win.

After giving up a key shorthanded goal in Thursday's loss to Montreal, Robin Lehner gave up two in a span of 50 seconds on Saturday against the New York Islanders and a total of three goals in 1:47 before being pulled in favor of Chad Johnson in 6-3 loss.

Puck management has been a problem for the Buffalo Sabres all season.  Most of the time their goaltenders bail them out.  But against the New York Islanders on Sunday on Family Appreciation Day the Sabres shortcomings were glaring in a 4-2 loss.

Captain Brian Gionta's second goal of the game in overtime gave the Buffalo Sabres a 4-3 win over the New York Islanders on Saturday night in the Sabres' final game of the season.  Defenseman Mark Pysyk found Gionta all alone in front of Islanders goaltender Christopher Gibson and Gionta beat him with a quick shot to the top of the net.

The Sabres are starting to get results from their hard work.  Last night in New York they won their second straight game with a 2-1 victory against the Islanders.  Both Buffalo goals came in the third period after they had fallen behind 1-0.

It was just so fitting - the Buffalo Sabres twice blow leads, give up the tying goal with under five minutes to play and lose in a shootout - on fan appreciation night.  Just perfect.

For all the criticism Buffalo Sabres general manager Darcy Regier gets, he's pulled off some pretty good trades. The one that sends winger Thomas Vanek to the New York Islanders falls into that category.