Skinner sparks Sabres in win against Islanders

BUFFALO -- Jeff Skinner had a goal and an assist to help the Buffalo Sabres to a 3-1 win against the New York Islanders at KeyBank Center on Saturday.

“I thought we just let loose tonight, and our speed was pretty apparent,” Buffalo forward Casey Mittelstadt said. “That’s a real strength of our team. We did a great job. I thought the [defense] did a great job getting up quick and joining us in the rush. That’s the way we want to play, so it’s definitely fun to get in the win category.”

Mittelstadt had two assists, and Eric Comrie made 24 saves for the Sabres (2-3-0) in his first start of the season.

“The guys put forth one heck of an effort tonight,” Comrie said. “They were absolutely phenomenal. They were sharp right from the get-go. I mean, it was fun to watch my [defense] corps work out there. They were boxing guys out, blocking shots and everything they could to make it easy for myself. When you see guys do that in front of you, you just want to pay back the effort and I had so much fun doing it.”

Noah Dobson scored, and Semyon Varlamov made 40 saves for the Islanders, who lost in regulation for the first time this season (2-1-1).

“I thought, just through the neutral zone, just our puck management, it has to be better,” New York coach Lane Lambert said. “It's two nights in a row now where we're trying. The intentions are good, but unintended consequences come along with that. And when you turn the puck over in the neutral zone, certainly against fast teams, and you know every team in this league is fast, and [can] transition quickly, you find yourself back in your own zone and spending way too much time there. So, we just have to manage the puck better. You just have to do it.”

Skinner gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 16:37 of the second period after Mittelstadt forced a turnover along the wall, skated into the slot and sent a pass to Skinner at the bottom of the right face-off circle.

Mattias Samuelsson made it 2-0 at 19:23 when he cut into the slot after receiving a pass by Mittelstadt from behind the net.

“‘Mittsy’ drove to the blue paint there and [brought] them all in and opens up the top for us and gives us room to make plays,” Samuelsson said. “I think throughout the game, putting it behind them, making them turn had something to do with it, and it was a lot for them to handle.”

Dylan Cozens took a cross-crease pass from Rasmus Dahlin at the left of the net to extend it to 3-0 at 2:40 of the third period.

Dobson's point shot deflected off Buffalo defenseman Connor Clifton and into the net at 18:39 to spoil the shutout for the 3-1 final.

“[The] first was fine,” Dobson said. “Second kind of got away from you. Same thing as last night; puck management, long change. You've got to manage the puck in the second. We kept turning the puck over, they kept catching us in waves and we got stuck out there.”

NOTES: It was Skinner's 60th multipoint game since joining Buffalo in 2018-19, the most among all Sabres skaters over that span. … Islanders forward Oliver Wahlstrom had a shot on goal and played 12:16 in his first regular-season game since sustaining a knee injury Dec. 27, 2022. … Forward Tage Thompson had an NHL career-high 10 shots on goal, the most by a Sabres player since Skinner had 10 on Feb. 1, 2019. … Dahlin has five assists to start the season, becoming the second Buffalo defenseman (Phil Housley) to begin multiple seasons with at least five assists in his first five games. Dahlin had six assists through the first five games in 2019-20. ... The Sabres have won six straight home games against the Islanders.