Thompson goal streak hits 6, Sabres recover to top Islanders in shootout

BUFFALO -- Tage Thompson extended his goal streak to six games, and the Buffalo Sabres recovered in a shootout for their fifth straight win, 3-2 against the New York Islanders at KeyBank Center on Saturday.

Thompson, who has six goals during his streak and tied the longest run of his NHL career, hit the mark for the second time this season. He also scored in six straight games from Nov. 13-Nov. 23 (six goals).

Rasmus Dahlin scored, and Alex Lyon made 32 saves for the Sabres (16-14-4), who had lost three in a row prior to winning each of their past five.

“The puck management has been better,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said of the winning streak. “I look at some of the decision-making as we enter the zone has been a big deal. We’re not fueling the other team’s offense by making high-risk plays. And that goes hand-in-hand with how we played the third period.

“You just need to play smart. Play it behind them, get it behind them, try to force them into mistakes. We’ve played a lot of tight games, and I think we’re getting rewarded for playing the right way.”

Josh Norris scored the deciding goal in the shootout after Emil Heineman tied it 2-2 for the Islanders with 29 seconds remaining in the third period. Mathew Barzal sent a cross-ice feed to Heineman, who scored on a wrist shot from the right circle.

“That was a huge goal,” New York coach Patrick Roy said. “That was a great play by ‘Barzy’ for that pass across. But, I mean, he's been one of our better players this year, and we're so happy with him.”

Barzal had a goal and an assist for the Islanders (19-13-4), who have lost three straight (0-2-1). David Rittich made 30 saves.

“That was a resilient game,” New York captain Anders Lee said. “I mean, the way the last two games have gone, I thought we really showed some character tonight. It didn't go our way again early on in the game, but we stuck with it and dug in and found ourselves clawing ourselves back into that game and getting that big point.”

Dahlin gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead on the power play at 1:47 of the first period. Lyon left a puck for Dahlin behind the net, and the Sabres captain carried it up the ice, cut between Heineman and Ryan Pulock to get to the front of the net, and slipped a backhand off the right post and in.

“I got some speed, got by the first guy, and then I saw the D was flat-footed, so I just wiggled a little bit and got 1-on-1 with the goalie,” Dahlin said.

Thompson extended it to 2-0 at 8:55 of the second period. He took a short drop pass from Josh Doan in the left circle to the net and tucked it behind Rittich, with the puck going in off the back of his right leg. It was Thompson’s sixth goal during his streak.

Barzal scored from in front to cut it to 2-1 at 19:37. Lyon made the save on his initial shot off a backhand pass from Lee behind the net, but Barzal collected the rebound and snapped it bar down to the far side.

“It’s not always going to be perfect, but we’re learning,” Lyon said. “Every time you go through that situation you get better and better at it. So, yeah, encouraging for sure. Wish we could’ve found a way to squeak it out in regulation there, but from maybe the 10-minute mark of the second period I think that they started to find their legs a little bit, and they started to play a really quality game.”

NOTES: Thompson has nine points (six goals, three assists) during a six-game streak. … Heineman’s goal was the Islanders’ latest game-tying goal since Noah Dobson scored with four seconds left in the third period on Dec. 5, 2021. … Barzal extended his point streak to seven games (two goals, six assists). … Dahlin’s goal was his 14th career game-opening goal, tying him with Alexei Zhitnik for second most by a defenseman in Sabres history, trailing only Phil Housley (24). It was also his 30th career power-play goal, becoming the third defenseman in Buffalo history to reach the mark, joining Housley (61) and Doug Bodger (33). … Matthew Schaefer had an assist on Heineman’s goal for his 11th power-play point of the season, tying him with Ray Bourque and Rick Hampton for sixth most by an 18-year-old defenseman in NHL history.