BUFFALO, N.Y. — The goathead uniforms made their season debuts in winning fashion, as the Sabres rolled past the Islanders 3-1 Saturday night at KeyBank Center.
Buffalo (2-3) won its second game in its past three outings, rebounding from a 4-3 loss to Calgary on Thursday. Eric Comrie made his first start of the season in net and earned the win on the night.
How it Happened
Buffalo donned the goat head uniforms for the first time this season, an outfit the team had plenty of success with last season. The Sabres compiled a 10-1-1 record with 58 goals when wearing the black and red jerseys in 2022-23.
Along with the season debut of the jerseys was the season debut of goaltender Eric Comrie, getting the start in net in place of Devon Levi. Levi and forward Zach Benson are both day-to-day with lower body injuries. In addition, head coach Don Granato made some changes to the lineup after the Sabres dropped three of their first four games.
Neither team could open the scoring in the first twenty minutes. The first period saw Buffalo outshoot New York 14-7, while each team had two chances on the power play.
Comrie made a couple of nice saves from in close, while Semyon Varlamov stifled Buffalo's best chance of the period on a Dylan Cozens breakaway opportunity.
The second period continued with Buffalo controlling the game, as the Sabres outshot the Islanders 11-1 through the first half of the period.
The loudest moment of the game came at 10:23 of the period, with Alex Tuch getting in a scrap with Adam Pelech, after which the KeyBank Center crowd gave a roaring applause. Tuch received an extra two minutes in the penalty box for roughing.
The Sabres, however, killed the penalty and had an immediate 2-on-1 opportunity with Casey Mittelstadt's effort being denied by Varlamov.
Buffalo eventually broke through though at the 16:37 mark of the second period. Mittlestadt provided the feed for Jeff Skinner to fire home with the sharp angle one timer from just above the goal line.
Less than three minutes later, Mittelstadt put on his assisting hat again, holding the puck long enough to find Mattias Samuelsson who scored on a wrister from the slot.
Buffalo ended the second period with a 2-0 advantage on the scoreboard and a 31-15 shots advantage.
The Sabres quickly made it 3-0 after the second intermission. At 2:40 of the second period, Rasmus Dahlin found Cozens with a backhand pass across the crease. Cozens put it in the net for his fourth point in the past three games.
The Islanders would score their only goal with 1:21 left in the 3rd, costing Comrie his shutout.