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Islanders top Sabres

Mar 16, 2014 - 3:57 AM Uniondale, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Kyle Okposo tallied a goal and an assist as the New York Islanders defeated the Buffalo Sabres, 4-1, on Saturday.

Frans Nielsen, Ryan Strome, and Cal Clutterbuck also scored, while Lubomir Visnovsky assisted on three goals for the Islanders, who have won two of their last three. Anders Nilsson made 33 saves in the win.

"We played a full 60 minutes," Nilsson said. "They scored early in the third period but we were able to bounce back and that's the character we need to have every game."

Tyler Ennis supplied the lone marker for the Sabres, who have lost five straight and six of their last seven. Jhonas Enroth allowed three goals on 37 shots in defeat.

"We can't expect (Ennis) to score all the goals every game and expect to win," Buffalo head coach Ted Nolan said.

The Islanders got on the board first. Nielsen slapped a shot from the right boards and the puck squeezed through the shoulder of Enroth, who received some contact from Okposo in passing at the 3:31 mark of the first.

Okposo added to the lead on the power play with less than three minutes to go in the opening stanza. He received a pass from Brock Nelsen at the right circle in the slot and wristed the it past Enroth.

Drew Stafford, who had scored a goal in each of his last three games, blasted a shot off the mask of Nilsson toward the end of the second and neither team scored in the middle frame.

Buffalo converted on the power play 56 seconds into the third. Stafford found Ennis at the side of the post and Ennis tucked the puck past the pad of Nilsson to cut the deficit in half.

The Islanders responded to make it a 3-1 game 39 seconds later. Strome took a pass from Matt Martin and raced through the slot. His initial wrister was turned aside, but he quickly gathered the rebound and buried the puck past Enroth for his fourth of the season.

The Sabres pulled their netminder with three minutes to go. Clutterbuck made them pay after he raced down the ice to flip a backhander into the net to seal the outcome.

Game Notes

The Sabres had won five of the last six contests and three straight road games against the Islanders ... Buffalo recalled defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen from the Rochester Americans of the AHL prior to the game ... New York will host Minnesota on Tuesday, while Buffalo is back in action at home against Montreal on Sunday.