BUFFALO, N.Y. _ They can't all be pristine performances with airtight goaltending. But because the Islanders have had way more good games than bad, they have some leeway in their playoff push.
Not much, though, with teams starting to play more divisional games entering the final quarter of the season. So, while the first-place Islanders were struggling through a 3-1 loss to the Sabres on Tuesday night at KeyBank Center despite only allowing 10 shots through the first two periods, the Capitals and Blue Jackets, their closest pursuers in the Metropolitan Division, were playing each other in Columbus.
The Islanders (33-17-6) had their three-game winning streak snapped but are still 19-5-2 since Dec. 15. They will need a fuller, 60-minute (or longer) effort Thursday night against the Blue Jackets as they conclude this two-game trip.
Robin Lehner, who signed a one-year, $1.5 million deal after three seasons in Buffalo, could not get a second win against his former team. He made 19 saves and is in a mini-slump of 2-2-1 despite entering the game leading the NHL with a 2.05 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage.
Johan Larsson gave the Sabres a crucial insurance goal at 17:35 of the third period after the puck trickled through Lehner's pads.
Linus Ullmark made 24 saves for the Sabres (28-21-7), who are 3-2-1 on their seven-game homestand.
Ullmark was tested more in a third period that provided crisper, more exciting hockey than the opening 40 minutes. The teams went 8:33 before the first stoppage, with Mathew Barzal generating numerous chances and Lehner getting in front of Zemgus Girgenson's deflection from close range.
Ullmark made perhaps his best save at 12:47 of the third, turning aside Cal Clutterbuck in the crease after the right wing skated in alone from the blue line. That save came less than a minute after defenseman Nick Leddy gave the puck to the Sabres' top goal-scorer, Jeff Skinner, in the Islanders' zone, but Skinner shot wide.
Lehner made 39 saves in the Islanders' 3-1 win on New Year's Eve in his first trip back to Buffalo to face his ex-teammates. After that win, he called it "probably the hardest game I've played in my career," and said he "struggled mentally a little bit in the beginning of the game."
"It feels a little bit better being here this time," Lehner said. "It was nice to get it over and done with the last time."
Skinner snapped a shot over Lehner's shoulder from the top of the right circle for his 34th goal after Jack Eichel beat Brock Nelson on an offensive-zone draw to give the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 16:25 of a sleepy first period.
But the Islanders tied the score at 1-1 with 22.4 seconds left in the first period after Clutterbuck, back after missing the last two games with an unspecified injury, forced a turnover from defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen along the left boards. Clutterbuck got the puck to Matt Martin, who quickly slid the puck to Casey Cizikas in the slot for a quick wrist shot past Ullmark.
The Islanders couldn't carry that momentum in the second period, as they struggled connecting on passes and with some defensive-zone turnovers.
Eichel also set up the Sabres' second goal with a backhanded feed off the left boards as Jason Pominville got behind defenseman Ryan Pulock and tipped the puck past Lehner at the crease. That gave the Sabres two goals on their first eight shots and a lead going into the third period.
It marked just the 15th time the Islanders have trailed through two periods.
