Josh Norris scored the decisive goal in the shootout Saturday for the host Buffalo Sabres, who squandered a two-goal lead before continuing their resurgence with a 3-2 win over the struggling New York Islanders.
Mathew Barzal scored in the first round of the shootout for the Islanders and the Sabres’ Jack Quinn answered in the second round before Norris scored against David Rittich in the fifth round. Buffalo goalie Alex Lyon then turned back Cal Ritchie to clinch the win.
Rasmus Dahlin scored in the first period and Tage Thompson scored in the second for the Sabres, who have won five straight. Lyon, who has been in net for all five wins, made 32 saves in regulation and overtime.
Buffalo, which has missed the playoffs each of the last 14 seasons and entered Saturday in last place in the Atlantic Division, is 2-0-0 since firing general manager Kevyn Adams on Monday and replacing him with Jarmo Kekalainen.
Barzal scored in the final minute of the second and Emil Heineman forced overtime by scoring on the power play in the last minute of regulation for the Islanders, who have lost three straight. New York, which is without forwards Bo Horvat (left ankle) and Kyle Palmieri (knee) and defenseman Alexander Romanov (shoulder), has scored two goals or fewer in seven of its last 11 games.
Rittich recorded 30 saves.
Dahlin went coast-to-coast for a power-play goal just 1:47 into the first, when he raced past Jean-Gabriel Pageau along the left boards and darted between Heineman and Ryan Pulock before switching to the backhand and flipping a shot over Rittich’s glove.
Thompson doubled the lead 8:55 into the second, when he tucked a backhand into the left corner of the net that glanced off Rittich’s leg and trickled across the goal line.
Barzal capped a chaotic sequence with 23 seconds left in the period. The teams traded possession deep in the Sabres zone before Anders Lee, stationed behind the Buffalo net, fed Barzal, whose first point-blank attempt bounced off Lyon before Barzal buried the rebound stick-side.
The Islanders pulled Rittich with a little under three minutes left in regulation, then went on a 6-on-4 power play when Michael Kesselring was called for slashing with 1:27 remaining and tied the score with 29 seconds to go, when Heineman scored on his 10th shot of the game.
