Sabres double up Islanders

October 17, 2009   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

The winless streak is now at five for the Islanders (0-2-3). For one Battle team at least, it’s reversed with the Sabres now unbeaten in five (4-0-1) following a 6-3 home win over the Isles last night in Western New York.

“We’re just playing good hockey,” explained winning netminder Ryan Miller. “I’m enjoying it, and I hope we can keep it up all year.”

Twelve different Sabres registered a point as the home team tallied half a dozen a second consecutive game after getting only four in their first three. That this one came without top scorer Thomas Vanek showed just how much depth early Northeast leading Buffalo has. Appropriately, six players finished including rookie defenseman Tyler Myers, who got it started by registering his first NHL goal on a quick backhand past an ineffective Dwayne Roloson, who was chased after permitting the first four on 12 shots.

Clarke MacArthur padded the lead when he made Roloson look silly on a penalty shot, going backhand deke at 14:42. Before you knew it, the Islanders were trailing by three when Tim Connolly’s sharp angle offering went through an off balance Roloson for a power play goal 4:46 into the second. MacArthur and Craig Rivet assisted. The PPG was set up by an undisciplined crosscheck minor on Isles’ enforcer Joel Rechlicz, who could be riding the pine tonight with Nate Thompson possibly reinserted.

Down 3-zip, the Isles didn’t pack their bags. Instead, Scott Gordon’s club chipped away sandwiching two of the next three goals to slice the deficit to 4-2 with a period left. First, Matt Moulson continued his impressive play by redirecting a Freddy Meyer shotpass past Ryan Miller for his third at 7:08. But just when it seemed they had momentum, Jochen Hecht beat Roloson with a left circle slapper five-hole 2:14 later. He took advantage of a poor Islander line change, getting behind the D before surprising Roloson, who slammed his goalie stick in frustration probably cause he knew he should’ve had the last two. That concluded his night with popular ex-Sabre Martin Biron relieving to cheers from a classy HSBC Arena.

Rookie John Tavares got one back on the power play when he cashed in on a Miller misplay to stuff one into a vacant net for his third, cutting it to 4-2 at 12:54. Moulson and vet Doug Weight earned helpers. Despite outshooting Buffalo 19-8 in the stanza, they were only even in goals due to Miller, who stopped a game high 36 including 17 of 19 in the busy second.

Patrick Kaleta scored for a second straight game, increasing to 6-3 when he finished off a Daniel Paille backhand feed in front at 8:52 of the third. The play was made possible thanks to Matt Ellis, who forced Brendan Witt into a turnover that allowed Paille to setup Kaleta. Witt has been abominable thus far, finishing minus-three last night to fall to minus-nine on the season. He also got victimized on Hecht’s goal which chased Roloson. It’s really hard not to advise Gordon to sit him out tonight against San Jose and put Bruno Gervais back in. He’s supposed to be a leader but the vet’s hardly leading by example.

As they’d done all night, the Islanders struck back right away when Andy Sutton’s one-time blast off a Blake Comeau feed beat Miller, making it 5-3 just 23 seconds later. It was Comeau’s first point in four games. Hopefully, that will get him going.

Late in the second, Tavares had a glorious chance to make it a one-goal game during a goal mouth scramble but his shot grazed off the post wide. In the third, he and Moulson had plenty of opportunities to again make things even closer. However, Miller made some key stops from in tight, including denying a couple of Tavares pointblank chances. The 2009 No.1 overall pick also had another great chance with Miller out of position but missed a backhand wide.

“He’s one of the best in the league,” Tavares said. “But that’s not making any excuses for our team. We have to make the most of our opportunities.”

“(Miller) keeps us in a lot of games,” Myers praised after recording his first NHL career two-point game while finishing plus-two. “He’s an unbelievable goaltender. From the time I’ve been here I’ve been amazed. It’s nice having him back there backing us up.”

Despite some strong play from the Islanders which the score didn’t indicate, they fell behind three when Jason Pominville notched his first to hit the century mark in goals. The play was started by Myers with Connolly quickly headmanning to a streaking Pominville, who got behind Witt and blasted a slapper from the right faceoff circle upstairs, concluding the scoring with 4:08 remaining.

“This one is a killer,” Biron lamented following turning aside 20 of 22 in relief. “We worked our way back in but hit posts and had a couple of wide open nets that we missed.”

Maybe tonight at The Coliseum, they’ll have better luck.

Notes: With his team already ahead two, Paul “Goose” Gaustad pounded Tim Jackman late in the first. … Struggling NYI forwards Josh Bailey and Sean Bergenheim went scoreless combining for a minus-three. … With Gervais sitting out, Jack Hillen debuted. He was paired with Witt and finished minus-two in 17:37. … Miller has started all five for Buffalo, posting a 4-0-1 record with a 1.59 GAA, .938 save percentage and one shutout. The Sabres are back in action tonight when they host Atlanta, who’s coming off a 4-2 road win over the Devils. The Thrashers usually pose problems for Buffalo. So, it should be interesting. Especially with Ilya Kovalchuk shutout last night. He normally turns it up versus the Sabres.