The Buffalo Sabres were one of the NHL’s best teams last season, finishing first in the Atlantic Division before beating the Boston Bruins in their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series. Buffalo lost to the Montreal Canadiens in Round 2, but long-suffering Sabres fans wanted to see them end their decade-and-a-half playoff drought, and they did that..
And here at TheHockeyNews.com, we’ve been breaking down the Sabres’ Eastern Conference opponents in an online series we call “Know Your Enemy”. In each of these files, we’re focusing on how Buffalo played against each East team, in addition to how they’re likely to fare against the team this season. And in this file, we’re analyzing the New York Islanders.
Advertisement
The Islanders didn’t have an impressive off-season, but they still have some excellent pieces – most notably, young stud defenseman Matthew Schaefer. How will the Sabres fare against the Isles? Here’s this writer’s best guess:
NEW ISLANDERS PLAYERS: Matias Maccelli (LW), Mitchell Chaffee (RW), Vitek Vanecek (G)
2025-26 SERIES: Sabres 3-0-0, Islanders 0-2-1
2026-27 GAMES AGAINST EACH OTHER: January 20 at Islanders; February 3 at Buffalo; March 21 at Islanders
CAN THE SABRES BEAT THIS TEAM? The short answer to this question is a firm ‘yes, absolutely the Sabres should beat the Islanders – and they should sweep them as they did last season’.
Advertisement
Why? Because, for starters, Buffalo’s lineup is far deeper and more talented than the Isles’ is, as the Islanders are still trying to transition into a new era for the team. Isles GM Mathieu Darche has made some inroads in building a new team for a new generation, but there’s still plenty of work that needs doing on Long Island, and we don’t see the Islanders making the playoffs in 2026-27.
The Sabres have all of their games against the Isles in an eight-week period, and two of those games will come on the road for Buffalo. At that point in the year, the Sabres will have no excuse for not taking it to the Islanders. They need to snuff out any possible signs of life from the Isles, and they need to do it with authority.
Otherwise, we’re going to get to the end of the regular season, and Buffalo will be looking up at the standings, wondering why they didn’t finish with home-ice advantage – or why they may miss the playoffs altogether this year. The difference between standings position can come down to only two or three teams, and if the Sabres are squandering points against teams they ought to beat every time out, they could come to rue the day they took their foot off the gas and squandered their season.
The Islanders aren’t a pushover by any means, but their lack of depth and their aged players aren’t going to carry them to the top of the league. Thus, the Sabres should be beating the Isles each and every game, and that includes beating them in their three clashes this season.
Read the full article here
