Dahlin's highlight-reel goal, Lyon's timely saves extend Sabres' winning streak to 5 games

Alex Lyon was asked if he could identify any commonality from the Buffalo Sabres’ current winning streak after they extended it to five games at KeyBank Center on Saturday.

The veteran netminder thought for a moment before answering.

“Belief, I think, probably goes a long way,” he said.

So does stellar play in goal, which the Sabres continued to receive from Lyon in their 3-2 shootout win over the New York Islanders. He made 32 saves – including an overtime breakaway stop on Mathew Barzal – then turned away four of five attempts in the shootout.

Lyon’s play has been among the recurring ingredients to Buffalo’s winning streak along with nightly goals from Tage Thompson, dominance at both ends from captain Rasmus Dahlin, contributions from Josh Norris, and a productive power play – all of which showed up against New York.

It’s all brought Buffalo within five points of both wild card spots in the Eastern Conference (occupied by Philadelphia and New Jersey) as well as third place in the Atlantic Division (Tampa Bay), with a chance to gain further ground against the Devils on Sunday.

• Next home game: Saturday, December 27 vs. Boston

Here’s a breakdown of the Sabres’ fifth straight win.

Dahlin’s highlight-reel goal

Dahlin produced one of the great plays of his career to date with the Sabres on the power play during the game’s opening minutes.

The Buffalo captain collected the puck behind his own net and began his breakout up the left side of the ice. He passed one defender on his way out of the zone, then carried the puck through three more Islanders upon crossing the offensive blue line. He finished the play by lifting a backhand shot past the glove of goaltender David Rittich.

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

“Just a special player doing special things,” added Lyon, who tallied his second career assist on the play.

The play was reminiscent of the end-to-end goal Dahlin scored as a teenager playing for Frolunda of the Swedish Hockey League in 2017. That play garnered international attention and supported his case to be selected with the No. 1 pick in the following year’s draft.

“I’ve known I can score goals like that, so it was nice to finally do it (in the NHL),” Dahlin said. “And hopefully I can score a couple more.”

Dahlin has 11 points (3+9) in nine December games and has been a driving force of Buffalo’s red-hot power play, which has now scored in seven of the last eight contests.

Thompson extends his streak

Thompson entered rarefied air with his second-period goal, which extended the Sabres’ lead to 2-0. It was a highlight-reel play in its own right, with Thompson holding onto the puck to the very last second on an odd-man rush before tucking it between the post and Rittich’s pad from behind the goal line.

He’s now scored in six straight games – his second such streak this season. Only Danny Gare (who was in the building Saturday), Rene Robert and Miroslav Satan have had two goal-scoring streaks of six games or more in their careers as Sabres, and only Satan did it twice in the same season.

Auston Matthews is the only other NHL player with two such streaks in a single season dating back to 2021-22.

Lyon and the Sabres’ response to adversity

The Sabres had chances to extend their lead, including multiple power plays that produced possession and grade-A looks but no goals. Rittich held strong, however, and the Islanders chipped away when Barzal buried his own rebound during the final minute of the second period.

New York completed its comeback during the last minute of regulation, with Michael Kesselring serving a penalty for slashing. Emil Heineman scored 6-on-4 to knot the score at 2-2 with 28.4 seconds on the clock.

It could have been a deflating moment, if not for resolve shown by Lyon. He’d already made timely stops throughout regulation, including a lunging glove save to prevent an own goal and a sprawling stop on a backdoor chance for Heineman.

When Barzal came charging on a breakaway in overtime, Lyon calmly closed the five-hole to keep the game alive.

“I think that’s just mental toughness on his part,” coach Lindy Ruff said.

Barzal got a bit of revenge with a nifty backhand goal on the Islanders’ first shootout attempt, but Lyon locked it down from there. After Saturday's win, he has a career shootout save percentage of .800 (three goals allowed on 15 attempts).

“I don’t know if I’m good at shootouts or I’ve been pretty lucky my whole career ever since going back to like when we were in Omaha (of the USHL),” he said. “Now that I’ve said that it’s going to come back and bite me.

“It’s one of those things that I try to not really think about too much and just let the instinct take over and it’s been a pretty good strategy for me so far.”

Lyon has earned the decision in each of the Sabres’ last five wins, stopping 130 of 141 shots for a .922 save percentage in that span.

“He keeps us in the games, so it’s huge,” Dahlin said.

Norris seals the shootout

Josh Norris was held without a point for the first time in seven games since he returned from injury on Dec. 1 – but only because his power-play goal, a one-timer set up by Dahlin, was waved off for goaltender interference during the first period.

Still, Norris left his mark on the game. After the Sabres fell behind in the first round, Jack Quinn lifted a shot past Rittich’s blocker to even the shootout at 1-1. Norris netted the winner with a wrist shot in the fifth round.

Norris has four goals on 10 career shootout attempts.

Up next

The Sabres hit the road for two games before the holiday break, beginning with a visit to play the New Jersey Devils on Sunday.

Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 7.