BUFFALO — This was always going to be about the response.
About how the Islanders rebounded less than 24 hours after allowing eight goals against the Penguins and dropping a critical game in the playoff race.
This was always going to be about Ilya Sorokin, when Patrick Roy — after leaving the door open for a David Rittich start Monday night — went back to his star goaltender and trusted him because, as he said pregame, it worked in the past.
And while Sorokin kept them in a game where they struggled to generate much offensively, they dropped a second consecutive match with a 4-3 defeat against the Sabres.
Cal Ritchie extended his point streak to a career-best five games with a goal, Anders Lee gave the Islanders life with a late goal to tie the game and Matthew Schaefer set the record for points by an Islanders rookie defenseman with an assist on Lee’s goal, but then they surrendered the decisive tally.
Everything shifted for good in the final minutes of the third, when Peyton Krebs deposited a pass from Alex Tuch past Sorokin for the game-winning goal. Brayden Schenn brought the Islanders within one with a second remaining, but they didn’t have any time to generate a fourth goal.
A chaotic few minutes — Sam Carrick fought Lee for his hit on Josh Norris in the second period and then exited with the help of a trainer, then Carson Soucy committed a hooking penalty — ended with Tage Thompson ripping a shot from the slot on the power play. There wasn’t much Sorokin could do.
The Islanders left the Sabres’ best play wide open with space to work out. And Thompson made the unit pay.
That caused the Islanders to lose any momentum they had gained back with a power-play goal of their own in the second period.
Ritchie tapped home a pass from Brayden Schenn by the post to tie game at 1, erasing an advantage that Buffalo had carried since Jack Quinn veered into the Islanders zone on the power play in the first period and sent a shot past Sorokin.
But really, the Islanders were only in that position to tie the game because of Sorokin.
They didn’t manage a high-danger chance in the opening 20 minutes and had just two through two frames, per Natural Stat Trick. The fourth line received the second-most ice time that frame.
Lee couldn’t capitalize on a penalty shot, as he couldn’t tuck his backhand shot past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. In a fitting end to the first period, Schaefer, long before his record-breaking 57th point, had a chance to step into a shot from the point, but he whiffed on it.
It all, by the end of an eventual third, added up to another disappointing loss for the Islanders, one that won’t crush their playoff hopes but one that certainly won’t boost them, either.
It only makes a back-to-back at the end of the week — against the Flyers and Hurricanes — even more important.
That’s what happens when four key points are left on the table.
