Game Preview: Islanders at Sabres

NEW YORK ISLANDERS AT BUFFALO SABRES
7 P.M. KEYBANK CENTER
TV: MSG+

The New York Islanders enter their last weekend of preseason, as they take on the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night at KeyBank Arena (7 p.m., MSG+).
It's starting to feel real, as the Islanders begin their regular season next Friday in Columbus. Till then, there are still jobs to be won, chemistry to be built and line combinations to be tinkered with. Friday's preseason tilt in Buffalo marks the second-last, in-game opportunity to settle things.
"Usually around this time teams start to amp it up," Jordan Eberle said after Thursday's practice. "The rosters are close to set and teams are playing very veteran lineups."

Brock Nelson, Jason Chimera and Johnny Boychuk are three veterans who are getting the night off, but John Tavares, Andrew Ladd, Eberle and Anders Lee are all in the lineup. The Lee-Tavares-Eberle line should get more reps in as they work towards building on-ice rapport.
Jaroslav Halak will start in goal for the Islanders and the plan is for him to play the whole game. Halak is 1-0-1 in the preseason, stopping 56-of-57 shots in five periods.
Buffalo is 1-3-1 in preseason play and are playing their final exhibition game before the regular season. The Sabres are icing a veteran-laden lineup featuring Jack Eichel, Kyle Okposo, Matt Moulson and Rasmus Ristolainen. Islanders scratches will be announced closer to gametime.

ISLANDERS ROSTER

| FORWARDS | | --- | | 7 Jordan Eberle | | 8 Steve Bernier | | 12 Josh Bailey | | 13 Mathew Barzal | | 15 Cal Clutterbuck | | 16 Andrew Ladd | | 24 Stephen Gionta | | 27 Anders Lee | | 53 Casey Cizikas | | 66 Joshua Ho-Sang | | 72 Anthony Beauvillier | | 86 Nikolay Kulemin | | 91 John Tavares | | DEFENSE | | --- | | 2 Nick Leddy | | 4 Dennis Seidenberg | | 6 Ryan Pulock | | 14 Thomas Hickey | | 42 Scott Mayfield | | 44 Calvin de Haan | | 50 Adam Pelech | | GOALTENDER | | --- | | 1 Thomas Greiss | | 41 Jaroslav Halak |

SABRES ROSTER

| FORWARDS | | --- | | 9 Evander Kane | | 10 Jacob Josefson | | 15 Jack Eichel | | 17 Jordan Nolan | | 21 Kyle Okposo | | 22 Johan Larsson | | 23 Sam Reinhart | | 25 Seth Griffith | | 26 Matt Moulson | | 28 Zemgus Girgensons | | 29 Jason Pominville | | 90 Ryan O'Reilly | | DEFENSE | | --- | | 4 Josh Gorges | | 41 Justin Falk | | 47 Zach Bogosian | | 55 Rasmus Ristolainen | | 82 Nathan Beaulieu | | 93 Victor Antipin | | GOALTENDER | | --- | | 31 Chad Johnson | | 40 Robin Lehner |