Sabres 5 (EN), Islanders 0: Home cooked

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The Islanders returned home and fell to the surging Sabres in what evolved into a 5-0 blowout after a competitive period and a half.

Bo Horvat returned to the lineup but was one of 13 Islanders shooters who failed to beat Alex Lyon — indeed, Horvat logged four SOG while Emil Heineman had six — and the trio of Mat Barzal, Anders Lee and Anthony Duclair was even benched for the third period. That came after their backchecking sin on Tage Thompson’s goal that made it 2-0 as the second period wound down.

The game was essentially put away 25 seconds into the third, when David Rittich made a stick poke reach that left him unequipped to stop Jason Zucker’s sweeping shot, Zucker’s second goal of the game. After Patrick Roy pulled Rittich for a sixth attacker with over seven minutes to go, Rasmus Dahlin put in an empty netter at 14:02 to make it 4-0, then the Sabres tacked one on less than a minute later for the final margin.

[NHL Gamecenter | Game Summary | Event Summary | Natural Stat Trick]

The Islanders had a few good chances and looks when it was still close, most notably a Max Shabanov breakaway that Lyon turned away. And it wasn’t a great night for Rittich, who conceded four on 20 shots.

But overall, an unimpressive afternoon for the whole squad. Everyone was on for at least one goal against except Adam Boqvist.

If there was any bright spot, it’s that Horvat returned and looked healthy while logging over 19 minutes.

#Isles Patrick Roy said backchecking doesn't require talent, just will. Obviously he was trying to send a message to the entire bench.

"First of all, I don't like to do this," Roy said. "I'd rather come here and just coach a game and not worry about those things."

— Andrew Gross (@AGrossNewsday) January 24, 2026

#Isles Mathew Barzal after being benched for third period for not backchecking on Sabres second goal: "Patrick (Roy) is just doing what he thinks needs to be done to make us a winning team."

— Andrew Gross (@AGrossNewsday) January 24, 2026

Up Next​

The Isles are in Philly for a meeting on Tuesday. The Flyers are just two points behind (as are the Leafs, and New Jersey one point behind them), and the Isles’ current run of form is not so hot. They survived the seven-game road trip at .500-ish, but two of their wins were absolute Sorokin Stole-it shows while their defeats left a lot to be desired.

They’ve been riding in playoff position for a while now, but in the congested East they’ll drop back to the outside if they don’t pile up some wins on this pre-Olympic stretch.

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