At The Final Horn: Islanders 3 - Sabres 1

The Buffalo Sabres were back in action for the first time in two weeks Monday night, but the result did not go their way in a 3-1 loss to the New York Islanders at KeyBank Center.
Victor Olofsson scored Buffalo's lone goal and Linus Ullmark made 26 saves in net.
Anders Lee, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Brock Nelson scored for the Islanders. Mathew Barzal assisted on New York's first goal to extend his career-high point streak to nine games. Semyon Varlamov turned aside 20 Sabres shots.
Olofsson's power-play goal extended his point streak to a career-best seven games (3+5). Seven of his eight points have come on the power play.

Due to a rash of COVID-related absences that affected nine players plus head coach Ralph Krueger, Monday marked Buffalo's first game action since January 31. Krueger was back behind the bench Monday night.
The 14-day layoff marked Buffalo's longest in-season break between games not caused by player participation in the Winter Olympics.

What happened

The Islanders took a 2-0 lead in the first period with a pair of goals in the late stages of the frame. Lee opened the scoring when he deflected in a shot by Josh Bailey with 3:23 remaining. Pageau doubled the led when he flew down the right wing and roofed a shot short side with 1:39 left.
Olofsson got Buffalo on the board with a power-play marker 1:40 into the second. His give-and-go with Rasmus Dahlin set up a good shooting lane and he made no mistake for his fifth goal of the season.
New York added to its lead at the 9:49 into the second when Nelson redirected the puck while in tight with the man advantage.
The Sabres were outshot 29-21 in the game and did not record a shot on goal in the third period.

Roll the highlight film

Let's take a look at Olofsson's goal:

Worth mentioning

Three Sabres - forward Steven Fogarty and defensemen Will Borgen and Brandon Davidson - made their season debuts. For Fogarty and Davidson, it was their first game in a Buffalo uniform.
The Sabres have six players on the COVID-related absence list: forwards Dylan Cozens, Curtis Lazar, Casey Mittelstadt, and defensemen Jake McCabe, Brandon Montour and Rasmus Ristolainen. Dahlin, Taylor Hall and Tobias Rieder had been in protocol prior to the game and were cleared for action.
The NHL is sharing the names of players who are "unavailable" to teams due to COVID protocols and updating a public list each day.
These "COVID Protocol Related Absences" can be the result of a number of factors including, among others:
(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol;
(2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol;
(3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol;
(4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or;
(5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol.
No additional detail will be provided either by the League or the team, including the precise reason a player is unavailable or how long he might be out.

Coming up

The Sabres and Islanders will wrap up their back-to-back set Tuesday night at KeyBank Center. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. on MSG and WGR 550. Pregame coverage begins at 6:30 on MSG.