Tonight was the penultimate game at the Nassau Coliseum against the lowly Buffalo Sabres. It was all Decades Night which was a celebration of each decade in Islanders history. On hand as part of the festivities were Ed Westfall (the Isles first captain in the 70s), Garry Howatt (the Isles first enforcer in the 70s), Butch Goring (part of the dynasty teams of the 80s), Pierre Turgeon (part of the Islanders resurgence in the early 90s) and Shawn Bates (who scored that memorable penalty shot against Toronto in the playoffs in the 00s). It was sure to be a sellout and also a must win.
The Islanders were coming off of a very disappointing overtime loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets., who followed up that game by beating the Pittsburgh Penguins for their ninth straight win on Saturday afternoon. That meant that an Islanders win against the Sabres coupled with a Washington Capitals loss would vault the Islanders back into second place in the Metropolitan Division. However, if the Capitals happened to beat the Ottawa Senators then the Islanders would at least have clinched a playoff spot. Either way it would be good news,. But the Islanders had to win first.
The Sabres were eliminated from playoff competition many months ago (52 points = 22-48-8). They have been tanking the season in order to get the first pick in next year's draft. Matt Moulson did not make the trip to Long Island, which was unfortunate because he should have gotten one more chance to play in the Nassau Coliseum before the doors were shut. Moulson became a star here and had his best seasons in a blue and orange uniform. After being a perennial 30 goal scorer, he signed a huge contract with the Sabres and only has 13 goals on the season.
Andrey Makarov made his NHL debut against Jaroslav Halak. The Islanders needed to jump on the rookie as soon as possible and put the game away. There was no more time to fool around with a Buffalo Sabres team that had nothing to play for. The switch has been officially turned on for the rest of the season and the playoffs.
As the game got started, the Islanders got a few shots on Makarov. New York got a power play when Matt Martin got hooked in the Buffalo zone. Kyle Okposo then was able to launch a soft shot with eyes that saw its way through traffic and caromed in off of a Buffalo defenseman and by Makarov for a 1-0 lead, It was BookerT's 17th goal of the year with John Tavares and Frans Nielsen getting the assists. Not a dominating period, but one where the Islanders were in complete control. The Islanders out shot the Sabres 13-8, however six of the Buffalo shots came on a single shift.
The second period was pretty uneventful, but once again the Islanders controlled the play. New York had to kill off a hooking penalty to Cal Clutterbuck and a double minor when Brian Strait went off for high sticking. The Sabres had the edge in shots 9-8 for the period, but that was only due to the fact that Buffalo had six minutes of power play time and New York had none. Through two periods, Halak was very sharp.
As the teams started the last period, the Islanders started to press a bit more on Makarov. After failing to convert on a power play, the Islanders got a break when a Sabre lost a stick in the Buffalo zone. As the Sabres tried to clear the puck, a pass hit the errant stick and found the blade of Brock Nelson who went five hole on Makarov for a 2-0 lead. It was Nelson's 20th goal of the year. A Buffalo hockey stick got the assist.
With a two goal cushion, the Islanders could have gone into cruise control, but they didn't. With about seven minutes to go, Travis Hamonic whiffed on his slap shot, Lubomir Visnovsky picked it up and gave it back to Hamonic you tried a second time and launched a bullet at the net. Nickolay Kulemin tipped it home past Markov for a commanding 3-0 lead. It was Kulemin's 14th goal of the year in his 500th NHL game. The party was over at that point.
The Islanders turned it on in the last period outshooting the Sabres 15-4 in the third and 36-21 for the game. Jaroslav Halak was solid and got his 6th shutout of the year, which happens to be one off of the franchise record for a single season held by Chico Resch. John Tavares with his assist remained a point behind Sidney Crosby and a point ahead of Alex Ovechkin in the race to the Hart Trophy.
With two points in hand, I turned over to the Washington Capitals game. The Ottawa Senators had gotten out to a 3-0 lead, but the Capitals scored two goals to make it close with a couple of minutes left. Washington tied the game and it went to overtime where the Senators won on a breakaway by Kyle Turris. So that meant that the Islanders re-claimed second place by a point over Washington and three points over Pittsburgh. Both of those teams play Sunday afternoon games, so with a little help, the Islanders will not only have a lead but a game in hand on both.
Beating Buffalo was a must win to put the Islanders in good position. They can clinch the playoffs with a win in Philadelphia on Tuesday night and are in the driver's seat for home ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs. It was an exciting time in the ole barn, especially with all of the pre-game festivities,. No one on the current team represented the Islanders for the All Decade celebration. Perhaps that will be a story that will be written before this season comes to an end.
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