FOUR SCORE: Isles blank Sabres 4-0

NY Islanders 4 - Buffalo 0
Saturday, February 23, 2013
First Niagara Center

GAME RECAP
Interim head coach Ron Rolston wasn't able to correct the Buffalo Sabres’ second period woes in his home debut. Evgeni Nabokov stopped all 35 Buffalo shots sent his way, as the New York Islanders extended the Sabres' losing skid to four games with a 4-0 defeat on Saturday.

Great performances by Ryan Miller and Nabokov had the Sabres and Islanders tied at zero after one period. After a back and forth second period the Islanders scored two goals in just over one minute. Mark Streit struck first for New York at the 17:51 into the second period. The Islanders captain took a pass from Matt Moulson behind Miller and tapped it into the open net. Then, Christian Ehrhoff’s cross ice pass in the offensive zone was picked off by Michael Grabner, and he raced off on a breakaway, beating Miller to give the Islanders a 2-0 lead. In the third period John Tavares added another tally, his 12th of the year. Colin McDonald put the nail in the coffin to make the final score 4-0 Islanders.

The Sabres are now 6-12-1 this season and have dropped their last four games. The loss puts Buffalo in the Eastern Conference basement with just 13 points in 19 games played this season.

BEHIND THE NUMBERS
Ryan Miller’s loss in goal snaps his streak of three wins against the Islanders. Miller had compiled a .946 save percentage during that stretch… Steve Ott’s eight faceoff wins makes him 17-2 in the faceoff circle in his last two games… Christian Ehrhoff lead the team in ice time with 25:53, almost a minute more than his average TOI per game this season (24:54)… 152nd game all-time between Buffalo and the N.Y. Islanders; Buffalo leads the series with a record of 74-56-22; 41-24-11 at home…This is Buffalo’s first four-game losing streak since they went 0-5-0 from January 14-21, 2012.

ROSTER NOTES
Rookie Mikhail Grigorenko was inserted back into the lineup after missing the previous three games as a healthy scratch… Andrej Sekera returned to the lineup after missing three games with a lower-body injury… Jordan Leopold missed his second consecutive game due to an upper body injury… Buffalo’s other scratches were T.J. Brennan and John Scott… Alexander Sulzer left the game in the first period with a lower-body injury and did not return to the game… Ville Leino (hip, 19 games) reported feeling better today after skating earlier in the day, but he remains on IR.

BUFFALO’S REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Time on Ice: Christian Ehrhoff, 25:53
Shots: Thomas Vanek, 6
Blocked Shots: Mike Weber, 3
Hits: Kaleta/Foligno, 4
Faceoff Wins: Cody Hodgson, 11
Total Faceoffs: Hodgson, 20

BUFFALO’S RECORD WHEN...
* Opponent Scoring First: 1-8-1
* Tied after the first period: 4-6-1
* Trailing after the second period: 2-8-1
* Outshooting opponent: 2-3-1

SPECIAL TEAMS
Power Play
Tonight: 0/6
Overall: 8/71, 11.3%
Home: 7/38, 18.4%

Penalty Killing
Tonight: 3/4
Overall: 61/77, 79.2%
Home: 24/33, 72.7%

UP NEXT
* Tuesday @ Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.
* Thursday @ Florida, 7:30 p.m.
* Saturday vs. New Jersey 3 p.m.