In Uniondale, the New York Islanders’ Jean-Gabriel Pageau potted a power-play goal late in the third period Monday night to send the Isles over the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored the game-winner for the New York Islanders
“[Wahlstrom] has a great shot and he used it all game,” Pageau said. “Missed the net a few times, had a few good shots, a few good chances. I think he was just trying to put it on net there and I got lucky to get the rebound.”
Oliver Wahlstrom put a shot goal that rebounded perfectly for Pageau.
“We’ve got to find ways to win like we did tonight,” New York’s Matt Martin said. “You’re not going to have your best every single night, but you find ways to pull through. We’ve got to take advantage of our time at home most importantly. We’ve got a pretty big stretch here now.”
Semyon Varlamov made 34 saves in the win.
“I thought ‘Varly’ was huge tonight for us,” Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said. “He made some huge saves off their power play, he made some huge saves towards the end.”
The Sabres dropped to 5-8-2 with the loss.
Curtis Lazar and Sam Reinhart were the Sabres’ scorers.
“It’s extremely painful,” Sabres head coach Ralph Krueger said. “We need [wins] right now, so good games don’t count. This is going to be a tough one to swallow because of the way we were able to fill the holes of the injured players. I thought everybody coming in here played well.
“… This is probably the most painful loss of the season for the way we were able to actually neutralize them, create opportunity, but [we] come out on the short end of the stick again. We have to be responsible for that.”
After Buffalo took a 1-0 lead, Anders Lee knotted the game when he was left to skate freely and unmarked at the slot.
“Stick with it. I think the way the game was going, I think we were creating some chances but nothing was getting on net, going wide, and kind of felt the frustration pick up a little bit,” Lee said. “When that happens, you’ve just got to find a way to stay positive, stay on your game instead of deviating away from it. I think we did a pretty good job of kind of battling through a little bit of a sloppy game at times and found a way.”
Martin also scored for the Isles when he put them ahead, 2-1. 
Linus Ullmark made 20 saves in the loss.
“Guys competed tonight and I think it showed,” Reinhart said. “They came out on top of it, [but] I think you’re seeing a team that’s a little more comfortable in those situations and that’s what we need to strive to be. … I think we can learn hopefully how to close out those games.”
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