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Comrie, Islanders top Sabres for second night in a row

Oct 7, 2007 - 4:08 AM UNIONDALE, New York (Ticker) -- Mike Comrie has the Buffalo Sabres reeling so far this season.

Comrie scored two third-period goals and Rick DiPietro made 18 of his 30 saves in the final session as the New York Islanders held on for a 3-2 victory over the Sabres in their opener at the Nassau Coliseum on Saturday night.

Defenseman Chris Campoli also tallied and Bill Guerin and Ruslan Fedotenko each had two assists for the Islanders, who swept the home-and-home series with the Sabres. New York edged Buffalo, 6-4, in the opening game for both clubs at the HSBC Arena on Friday night.

In his first season with the Islanders, Comrie had two goals and two assists in New York's season-opening win. He fueled the Islanders' attack in that contest, which featured 10 points by new acquisitions - including three assists by Guerin.

One night later, Comrie provided the offense in the final period to lift New York to victory.

"You need your best players to be your best players, and so far our best players have been exactly that," Islanders coach Ted Nolan said. "Comrie wanted to be the go-to guy when he came in here, and he's done that. And what can you say about Ricky (DiPietro), he made the save of the year last night and he's a big reason why we are where we are."

The 27-year-old center snapped a 1-1 tie with a nifty tally just 1:47 into the third session - taking a pass from Guerin, shifting to his right and sliding the puck between the pads of goaltender Ryan Miller.

"Billy was making a move and the puck slid to me," Comrie said. "I saw Miller slide over, so I tried to squeeze it through his pads."

Comrie scored again at 8:29 after a frenzied rush. He had his initial shot turned away by Miller, but after it caromed behind the net, Fedotenko threw it in front to Comrie, who slammed it home for a 3-1 advantage.

"Billy made a great play and chipped it out," Comrie said. "Miller made a great save, and Ruslan tracked down the rebound and slid it out in front to me. It was a great pass. Billy and Ruslan are very smart hockey players. If you go to the net and get open, they will find you."

After Jochen Hecht tallied for the Sabres to make it a one-goal game with 5:49 left, DiPietro and the Islanders killed a penalty in the final minutes as Tim Connolly hit the goalpost with three minutes remaining.

DiPietro praised both his team's defense and intensity.

"Our team tightened up the defense and did a solid job on the penalty kill," DiPietro said. "I think Andy Hilbert had a great game. He blocked two shots near the end of the game, and he got it out of our zone."

Defenseman Jaroslav Spacek started the scoring with a power-play goal for the Sabres 6:51 into the first period, burying a deep one-timer from just inside the blue line past DiPietro.

Campoli also tallied with the extra skater to tie the game for New York, blasting a slap shot over Miller's left shoulder.

"We have to play a lot better", said Miller, who made 21 saves. "We were substantially better tonight. We did not have the offense like we did last night, but we made a step forward."