Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - The Sabres earned a very important regulation win on Thursday night with a 4-0 win over the New York Islanders at KeyBank Center.
Zach Benson lead the way for Buffalo with two goals, while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 21 saves to earn his fifth shutout of the season.
The Sabres dominated the first 10 minutes of play, but did not have anything to show for it in the goals department. In that timeframe, Buffalo ended up outshooting the Islanders, 8-0.
Rasmus Dahlin took a hooking penalty just past the halfway point of the period, but the penalty kill was up to the task, keeping the game scoreless in the first.
Buffalo continued to own most of the play for the remainder of the period, but the game stayed scoreless with the Sabres leading in shots, 13-4.
Anders Lee took an early interference penalty in the second, and the Sabres took advantage on the power play.
It took Buffalo just 19 seconds to get out to a 1-0 lead, as winger Victor Olofsson was able to find a hole through Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin off a great feed from JJ Peterka for his sixth goal of the season.
Less than four minutes later, the Sabres jumped out to a 2-0 lead when Dylan Cozens pounced on a big rebound off a Connor Clifton shot.
Just about 90 seconds after that, Buffalo extended its lead to 3-0 when Zach Benson tipped a Henri Jokiharju point shot past Sorokin. The Islanders attempted to challenge the goal for goaltender interference, but were unsuccessful and were given a delay of game penalty.
That tally gave the Sabres three goals in just 5:13 of game play.
The score remained the same until late in the third period when the Islanders pulled their goalie in desperation mode with six minutes left in regulation.
Benson put the game on ice with his second goal of the contest into an empty Islanders net to extend the Sabres' lead to 4-0.
With his 21-save shutout, Luukkonen earned the most shutouts in a single season for a Sabres goalie since Ryan Miller had six shutouts in the 2011-12 season.
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SCORING RECAP
First Period:
BUF: NONE
NYI: NONE
Second Period:
BUF: 4:28 - Victor Olofsson (6) PPG (JJ Peterka, Owen Power); 8:15 - Dylan Cozens (15) (Connor Clifton, Jeff Skinner); 9:41 - Zach Benson (8) (Henri Jokiharju, Owen Power)
NYI: NONE
Third Period:
BUF: 15:06 - Zach Benson (9) (Rasmus Dahlin, Bowen Byram)
NYI: NONE
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Losi & Gangi Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen - BUF
2.) Dylan Cozens - BUF
3.) Zach Benson - BUF
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What's next:
The Sabres head out on the road to start a five-game road trip on Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena. Faceoff is set for 12:30 p.m. ET with pregame coverage on WGR starting at 11:30 a.m. ET with Brian Koziol.