Buffalo had the next shot after Cizikas' goal, but the Islanders rattled off eight straight after that, holding the Sabres without a shot for nearly seven minutes. In addition to Fasching's shot off the post, Bo Horvat ripped a one-timer off the crossbar on an Islanders power play.
"As a group, you can feel that on the bench," Cizikas said. "Whenever a line has a good shift, you want to continue that momentum. You want to keep pushing forward and I thought we did that for the second half of the second. We kept pushing forward, we kept going line after line and taking it to them."
The momentum carried over into the third, as the Islanders took a 2-1 lead. The Fasching-Cizikas-Bailey line struck for the second time, with Bailey poking in a Cizikas rebound at 1:51 of the third.
Bailey's goal was the Islanders 14th third period tally in the past nine games - improving the Isles run to 14-0 run over that span. The run was finally broken as Kyle Okposo tied the score at 4:59 with a long wrister through traffic, the first third period goal allowed since Valentine's Day.
Tied 2-2, the new-look line pushed through again, as Fasching, who skated 13:58 with a goal, an assist, three shots, six attempts, two blocked shots and a takeaway, scored the eventual winner at 7:37. Scott Mayfield's shot deflected off Bailey, then Fasching's shin and in and while the goal was reviewed for a kicking motion, it eventually stood and the Isles locked it down from there.
When it was all said and done, the line was rewarded in the three stars, as Fasching was named the game's first star, Bailey the second and Cizikas the third.
"It feels great," Fasching said. "You just want to contribute and try to help the team win games. And obviously it's a big game, so it feels awesome."
