Olofsson scores lone goal for Sabres in loss to Islanders

Victor Olofsson scored the lone goal of the game for the Sabres as they returned from a layoff of more than two weeks with a 3-1 loss to the New York Islanders at KeyBank Center on Monday.
Anders Lee, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, and Brock Nelson scored for the Islanders while Josh Bailey tallied two assists. Semyon Varlamov made 20 saves.
Here are five takeaways from the game.

1. Missed chances overshadow strong start

Kyle Okposo had likened the thought of jumping back into the NHL season following a 15-day layoff to jumping onto a moving train. Early on, it seemed like the Sabres were up to the task.
Buffalo outshot New York, 12-8, during the first period and had a prime opportunity to open the scoring when a tic-tac-toe succession of passes from Jeff Skinner and Jack Eichel led to Olofsson seemingly staring down an open net. Instead, Varlamov got a piece of the shot and deflected it wide.
The Islanders responded less than a minute later with a deflection goal by Lee to open the scoring with 3:23 left in the period. Pageau doubled the lead a minute after that.
"I really liked our start," Okposo said. "We came out in the first couple periods, I thought we played really well. We just didn't capitalize on some opportunities."

2. Islanders shut the door

The deficit proved insurmountable against an Islanders team that entered the night ranked fifth in the NHL with an average of 2.46 goals allowed per game. After Olofsson and Nelson traded power-play goals in the second period, the Islanders held the Sabres without a single shot on goal in the third.
Okposo and captain Jack Eichel both said the late struggles were more a matter of puck mismanagement than anything having to do with rust from the long break.
"I don't think it was fatigue," Okposo said. "I just think that we got away from our game a little bit and kind of got sucked into what feeds their game and that's when you turn the puck over.
"They're a team that knows how to play with the lead, they know how to lock things down. I just thought we fed into their game in the third period."
Added Eichel: "I think as a group, myself, everyone, we've got to be better. It's a quick turnaround. We're going to play a lot of hockey in the next week or so. Obviously, we hadn't played in the last two weeks. But nobody wants to sit here and make excuses."

3. COVID-related absences force multiple debuts

The Sabres skated Monday morning with four players still absent due to COVID-19 protocols: forwards Dylan Cozens, Curtis Lazar, and Casey Mittelstadt and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen. Three others - forward Tobias Rieder and defensemen Jake McCabe and Brandon Montour - joined the team on the ice for the first time at the morning skate after respective bouts with the virus.
Rieder stepped right into the lineup, skating 9:42 and assuming his usual role on the penalty kill. McCabe and Montour both remained absent, however, leaving the Sabres without three of their top four defensemen in terms of average ice time. Their absences paved the way for Brandon Davidson and Will Borgen to make their season debuts.
Davidson skated 11:36 and tallied two shots but took the holding penalty that preceded Nelson's power-play goal during the second period. Borgen skated 14:43, tallying one shot and three hits. Neither player had appeared in a game since last March.
"I thought Borgen and Davidson stepped in and really played a good game today for the fact that they haven't played in something like a year," Sabres coach Ralph Krueger said. "It was a pretty good depth effort. I liked our D corps for the group we had."

4. Olofsson extends his point streak

Olofsson extended his point streak to a career-best seven games, fueled almost entirely by production on the power play. His four power-play goals are tied for fourth in the NHL this season while his nine power-play points are tied for sixth.
He is the first Sabres player to record a power-play point in six straight games since Daniel Briere in 2005.

The Buffalo power play remained hot despite the layoff, scoring for the sixth straight game.

5. Right back at it

The Sabres host the Islanders again Tuesday, then face them four more times in the next 11 games.
"We've got to have a short memory and learn from it, rectify it," Okposo said.
Krueger said that McCabe and Montour will both be eligible to return to the lineup Tuesday but added that both players will be evaluated before decisions on their availability is made.
Puck drop on Tuesday is scheduled for 7 p.m. with coverage on MSG beginning at 6:30.