(WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres get to go into their holiday break without a winless streak to sit on anymore.
Buffalo worked hard from start-to-finish, whipping the New York Islanders on Monday, 7-1, and breaking their six-game losing streak and 13-game winless skid.
It was the Sabres’ first win in a month after beating the San Jose Sharks back on Nov. 23.
Monday was their second game in-a-row where they were very good defensively, and worked hard and worked for each other. When you look at every goal they scored, it was hard work that got them there.
The Sabres defended extremely well in front of goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, giving up only 16 shots in the first two periods. When mistakes were made, he made big saves.
Buffalo also defended well in Boston on Saturday, but lost, 3-1.
It only took the Sabres 2:07 to get on the board on Monday, and that was because Sam Lafferty, Connor Clifton and Beck Malenstyn all went to the net. Jacob Bryson saw this, and got a shot through that Malenstyn tipped past Ilya Sorokin.
Just four seconds after a power play was over, Rasmus Dahlin and Dylan Cozens charged the net and worked the puck out to Jiri Kulich in front. The youngster let the puck go quickly, and the Sabres left the first period up 2-0.
Buffalo did a good job of working the puck around on their next power play, and Jack Quinn put it right in Jason Zucker’s wheelhouse to make it 3-0.
Instead of playing not to lose, this team definitely went for it and extended their lead.
Kulich really hustled to cause a turnover inside the blue line, and then Dahlin found Zach Benson by himself in front. Sorokin stopped his open redirect, but Benson scored on the rebound.
Less than three minutes later, it was Cozens again doing the work down low, and he found Quinn, who let a missile go and it was 5-0, Buffalo.
With over 10 minutes to go in a 5-1 game, Islanders head coach Patrick Roy pulled his goaltender, and Tage Thompson scored his 17th goal of the season.
Later in the third period, Kulich stole the puck again and won a battle with two Islanders to get in on Sorokin. He then fired home his second goal of the game.
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Dahlin tied a team record with four assists by a defenseman. That kind of effort is what won the Sabres 7-of-9 games earlier in the season. Not having this kind of effort has all but taken Buffalo out of the playoff race.
The Sabres are no longer the worst team in the NHL, as their .400 points percentage is better than the San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks.
However, they still go into the Christmas Break 10 points behind the Ottawa Senators for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.
When the break is over on Friday, Buffalo will host the Blackhawks, and then heads to St. Louis to play the Blues and Dallas to play the Stars on New Year’s Eve.