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Sabres rally, beat Islanders in SO

Dec 28, 2014 - 6:05 AM Buffalo, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Nicolas Deslauriers, Zemgus Girgensons and Chris Stewart scored in the third period to pull Buffalo out of a 3-0 hole and the Sabres snapped a four-game losing streak with a 4-3 shootout win over the New York Islanders on Saturday night.

Buffalo's goals, highlighted by Girgensons' short-handed tally, came in a span of 5:12 in the period. Stewart tied the score with 8:09 remaining.

Jhonas Enroth made 33 saves in the win, including 17 after the second period, then stopped two shots in the shootout after the first Islanders skater fired wide.

He improved to 5-0 in shootouts this season.

"What a gutsy win," said Sabres forward Drew Stafford, who had two assists.

The Islanders placed goaltender Jaroslav Halak on injured reserve Saturday with a lower-body injury and recalled Kevin Poulin from the AHL's Bridgeport Sound Tigers to make his first appearance in the NHL this season.

Poulin made 17 saves in the first two periods, then allowed three goals on six shots in the third.

John Tavares had two goals in the loss and Nick Leddy scored one. Tavares made one too many moves as the last skater in the shootout and Enroth stopped him with his right pad.

"I thought we controlled most of the game," Tavares said. "We had opportunities, we just didn't capitalize."

Deslauriers finally got Buffalo on the board 6:39 into the third period with a snap shot that hugged the ice to beat Poulin, and he set up Girgensons' short- handed goal with a sharp pass through the neutral zone.

Girgensons fought off defenseman Johnny Boychuk to score and Stewart found the back of the net just 1:50 later on a pass from Stafford, who was just out of the penalty box.

Earlier, Leddy gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead 4:33 into the game with a slapshot from inside the blue line that beat Enroth's blocker.

Tavares scored twice in a span of 3:09 in the second period to make it 3-0. He beat Enroth with a backhand after a nice individual effort through the slot just shy of the 12-minute mark, then buried a one-timer near the crease at 15:05 off Josh Bailey's pass from the low right side.

Game Notes

Josh Gorges also had two assists for the Sabres. Bailey and Okposo had two assists each for New York ... The Islanders host Washington on Monday before heading out on a seven-game road trip ... Buffalo plays at Ottawa on Monday.