ELMONT, N.Y. — Kyle Palmieri said after the Islanders’ dispiriting overtime loss to the lowly Blue Jackets on Friday night that “we didn’t really come ready to play.”
Was that a surprising and disappointing thing to hear from a team leader at this stage of the season, given the Islanders’ precarious playoff position?
“Yeah, sure it is,” coach Lane Lambert said before Saturday’s game against the Sabres at UBS Arena. “No question.”
Then the Islanders proceeded to not look ready again in a sloppy first period. They improved dramatically in the second, but things went awry again late in the third period.
That was when former Islander and current Sabres captain Kyle Okposo scored with 6:29 left, which was enough for Buffalo to secure a 2-0 victory after Jeff Skinner scored into an empty net with 31.8 seconds left.
The puck deflected off the Islanders’ Anders Lee to his former teammate, who swept the puck off the left post and past Seymon Varlamov, who had an excellent game in goal with 33 saves.
The loss dropped the Islanders to (37-28-9), leaving them at 83 points and ending a four-game point streak. The Sabres (35-31-6) completed a weekend sweep of the Devils and Islanders.
The Rangers helped the Islanders some in the playoff chase for a wild-card spot by beating the Panthers.
Josh Bailey returned to the lineup after four consecutive healthy scratches and seven overall this season, replacing Simon Holmstrom on a line with Bo Horvat and Anders Lee.
About four minutes in, Samuel Bolduc made a terrible pass in front of his own net that nearly resulted in the game’s first goal, but Varlamov bailed him out with a nifty save.
A few minutes later, Varlamov made a spectacular pad save on Dylan Cozens to thwart a 2-on-1 chance for Buffalo.
The Sabres controlled play for long stretches of the opening period, but Buffalo could not solve Varlamov and it was scoreless after one. Buffalo outshot the Islanders, 13-7, in the first period.
One of the Islanders’ few good chances came late, when Pierre Engvall was stopped in close by the Sabres’ Eric Comrie (26 saves).
Noah Dobson hit the right post with a long shot six minutes into the second as the Islanders showed far more spirit than they did in the first.
During the second period, Bailey moved from the first to the fourth line; Cal Clutterbuck went in the opposite direction. Later, Bailey returned to the top line. None of the switches worked.
With 4:34 left, Varlamov made a nice glove save on Casey Mittelstadt.
There were some boos for an ineffective Islanders power play late in the second, which ended with the game still scoreless.
Varlamov began the third period by stopping a breakaway by Cozens with his right pad.
The third period featured good action and chances for both teams before Okposo’s game-winner.
