Sabers vs Islanders | Guide, storylines and cast information

Storylines

1. Thompson's Point Streak

Tage Thompson enters tonight on a seven-game point streak with six goals and five assists in that span. An eight-game point streak would be the longest of his career.

Thompson, an assistant captain for the first time this season, has been a model of consistency for the Sabers both in terms of his offensive production and his commitment to the team's newfound identity under Ruff. He was a vocal leader on the bench.

“He plays with a lot of passion,” Ruff said. “He works extremely hard. His tracking and work ethic were great. And I think being back on the bench and hearing a guy who is a great role model on the ice is really good for our club.”

Thompson is tied for second in the NHL with seven even-strength goals entering Friday, one behind Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov.

2. The power game

The Sabres' power play has scored points in two straight games – both off the stick of forward Jason Zucker – after opening the season 0-22.

Sabres' assistant coach Seth Appert attributed the recent success to the steady improvement he has seen over the season in the way units have advanced into the zone, won battles, to maintain possession of the ball on missed shots and move the puck to create scoring opportunities.

“It's been a slow, steady process of getting used to the process of how we come into the game, how we get pucks back, how we do offensive recoveries, how we release pressure from recoveries, and all of those things have to be OK for the players.” to then let their skills shine,” said Appert.

“And that’s why I think we did a better job of it. Not perfect. We have a lot to do. And I think in the last five or six games we've converted all of that into scoring opportunities and now some of them have gone into the net.”

The Sabers have an opportunity to take another step against the Islanders' penalty kill, which ranks last in the NHL with a success rate of 62.5 percent.

3. Exploring the Islanders

Despite their low penalty kill percentage, the Islanders have typically been good at limiting the goals against them this season. They allowed 16 goals in 5-on-5 play, the sixth-fewest goals in the NHL.

New York's offense has been the main contributor to its 3-5-2 start, including three straight losses on Friday. The Islanders suffered a 2-0 loss to the Blue Jackets on Wednesday, marking their fourth suspension in their first 10 games this season.

The Islanders rank last in the league with an average of 2.10 goals per game. Forwards Kyle Palmieri and Brock Nelson lead the team with four players each.