Carter Hutton makes 20 saves but Buffalo falls, 1-0, as NY wins its 9th straight.
By Chris Ryndak / Sabres.com
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Carter Hutton made 20 saves Saturday night, but the only one that beat him came from behind the net.
Derick Brassard scored the lone goal of the game as the New York Islanders defeated the Buffalo Sabres 1-0 at KeyBank Center.
Buffalo saw limited opportunities throughout the game due to the Islanders’ brand of defense and Semyon Varlamov needed to stop 27 shots for New York to earn the shutout. The Islanders extended their winning streak to nine games.
How it happened
Brassard scored in his fifth-straight game to open the scoring 5:19 into the game. The goal came from behind the goal line, bouncing in off the back of Hutton’s leg.
Hutton held strong for Buffalo. One of his best saves of the night was on Cole Bardreau midway through the second period.
Buffalo’s power play went 0-for-3. They wrapped up last night’s game with the third-best power play in the NHL, but have not converted in back-to-back games.
What it means
Buffalo is now 9-4-2 on the season, 0-2-1 in their last three games and 1-3-1 in their last five. Buffalo hoped to rebound from last night’s 6-1 loss in Washington, but they’ve now lost back-to-back games in regulation for the first time this season.
The Sabres got off to a hot start to the 2019-20 campaign and they’ll have some time to regroup before their next contest.
Coming up
The Sabres won’t play again until next Friday and the game won’t even be in this hemisphere. Buffalo will take on the Tampa Bay Lightning in back-to-back games as part of the 2019 NHL Global Series in Stockholm, Sweden.
Buffalo’s next true home game will be on Thursday, Nov. 14 against the Carolina Hurricanes.