is Charron’s skate. The puck dribbled to Rantanen, who fed a pass through the crease to a wide-open MacKinnon.“Last game we started

BUFFALO Thomas Vanek Jersey , N.Y. (AP) The Buffalo Sabres have experienced several frustrating losses already this season, so a sloppy win was OK for Sam Reinhart and company.Reinhart poked in a rebound with 4:14 left, and the Sabres edged the New York Islanders 4-3 on Thursday night after squandering a three-goal lead.”It’s unfortunate where we’re at, but this is one we can hold up,” said Reinhart, who also had two assists. ”It was a pretty ugly one, but those are the ones you kind of have to find a way to win on a consistent basis in this league.”Jack Eichel and Evan Rodrigues each had a goal and an assist for last-place Buffalo, and Ryan O’Reilly also scored. Robin Lehner stopped 26 shots to help Buffalo salvage the finale of a five-game homestand after going 0-3-1 in its previous four games.It was the 1,000th home win in franchise history.”I’m not saying I’m not happy that the guys pulled it out,” coach Phil Housley said. ”But I just think, over all, if you play like that Womens Adam Larsson Jersey , you’re asking for trouble.”John Tavares, Anders Lee and Ross Johnston scored for New York, which had gone 5-0-3 in its previous eight trips to Buffalo. Jaroslav Halak stopped 18 shots.The Islanders squandered an opportunity to jump ahead of idle Columbus for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. They dropped to 1-3-1 in their last five games.”Nothing was missing. We had a great game,” coach Doug Weight said. ”I thought we got good performances from a lot of guys. I mean, we’re going to win hockey games. We just can’t afford to lose those.”Reinhart got the game-winner 73 seconds after Lee tied it at 3.Eichel began the play when his shot from the right boards hit a skate and caromed into the slot to Rodrigues, whose shot was stopped by Halak. Reinhart was left alone in front to knock in the rebound.The Islanders have allowed three or more goals in 10 of their past 11 games.”If we bring that same effort, that same intensity, I like our odds,” Johnston said. ”If we play that way and stick to the game plan, we’ll start getting results here.”New York fell behind 3-0 in the second period before it started to rally. Tavares swept in a loose puck at 13:06, and the Islanders added two more in the third.Johnston snapped a shot from the slot over Lehner’s left shoulder with 12:30 remaining.Lee tied it with a power-play goal with 5:27 left. With Eichel in the penalty box for tripping, Josh Bailey’s shot from the right circle was deflected wide of net. The puck went to Lee Cam Talbot Jersey , who jammed it inside the right post.Buffalo was being outshot 6-0 when Eichel opened the scoring 7:41 into the game.With Reinhart drawing three defenders to him driving up the middle, he crossed the blue line and fed a pass to a wide-open Eichel driving up the right side. Eichel skated into the circle and snapped a shot in off the far post.Another defensive miscue led to Rodrigues’ third goal just under six minutes later. Marco Scandella’s shot from the blue line sailed just wide of the left post and the puck caromed off the end board. It went directly to Rodrigues, who was left untouched in the slot and directed it inside the right post.The Sabres led 2-0 after one despite being outshot 10-4.O’Reilly scored a power-play goal 7:18 into the second period by tipping in Rasmus Ristolainen’s shot from inside the blue line.NOTES: Buffalo’s home record stands at 1,000-393-216, including a 4-1 ”home” win over Anaheim in a game played at Helsinki, Finland, to open the 2011-12 season. … Sabres D Jake McCabe will miss three to four weeks after surgery on Wednesday to repair a thumb injury. … Weight left open the possibility of D Johnny Boychuk returning as early as Friday, when New York hosts the Red Wings. Boychuk missed his 18th game with a lower-body injury.UP NEXTIslanders: Host Detroit on Friday.Sabres: Travel to play the Boston Bruins on Saturday.— BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon shrugged off his hot start with the Colorado Avalanche this season by suggesting he can be better.“It’s nice for sure. I think I can play better than I am,” MacKinnon said after scoring twice in a 6-1 rout of the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night. “I’m just putting it in right now but I think, overall, it hasn’t been the easiest year so far.”Coach Josh Bednar agrees with his player Youth Darnell Nurse Jersey , who has five goals and extended his season-opening scoring streak to four games.“I feel like he’s just kind of starting to hit his stride,” Bednar said, before turning his attention to the Avalanche’s top line rounded out by Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog.“If they continue to work the way they’re working, and do the right things and pay attention to the process, it’s going to come for them,” he added.Tyson Jost and Colin Wilson scored power-play goals 2:25 apart in a first period in which the Avalanche built a 3-0 lead on Carl Soderberg’s goal with 3:30 left.MacKinnon scored his first of the game 28 seconds after Buffalo’s Nathan Beaulieu cut Colorado’s lead to 3-1 late in the second period.MacKinnon and Alexander Kerfoot then scored breakaway goals in the final five minutes as Colorado improved to 3-1 and bounced back from a 5-2 loss at Columbus.Semyon Varlamov stopped 30 shots to improve to 3-0. And Mackinnon matched the Colorado franchise record for a goal streak to open a season, set by John Mitchell three years ago.Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin , the first overall draft pick this summer, got his first career point with an assist on Beaulieu’s goal.Otherwise, very little went right for Buffalo (2-2), which squandered a chance to match last season’s team-best three-game winning streak.Whatever momentum the Sabres attempted to generate were dashed with 22 second left in the first period when Kyle Okposo’s goal was disallowed following a coaching challenge for goalie interference.Officials determined Okposo interfered with Varlamov when he crashed into the crease to convert Jack Eichel’s pass. After redirecting the pass, Okposo backed into the goalie Kailer Yamamoto Jersey , forcing Varlamov to lift his right pad and allowing the puck to sneak in beneath it.“I knew it was going to be probably a 50-50 one,” Okposo said. “I don’t think me being there really affected it. But they did. And that’s how it goes.”Okposo was more frustrated over how Buffalo started the game.“I think it would’ve been nice to get out of there 3-1, but we deserved to be down 3-0,” he said. “We didn’t play well in the first period. Like, it was bad.”Buffalo’s bad breaks were compounded after Beaulieu scored.MacKinnon scored to regain Colorado’s three-goal edge after a Sabres clearing attempt got caught up referee Francis Charron’s skate. The puck dribbled to Rantanen, who fed a pass through the crease to a wide-open MacKinnon.“Last game we started out a little bit sloppy so it was something we emphasized before the game,” Wilson said. “We answered the bell there and stayed in our mindset the whole game.”NOTES: Colorado converted 2 of 4 power-play opportunities, while Buffalo went 0 for 7. … Avalanche C Vladislav Kamenev made his season debut. Acquired from Nashville in a three-team trade in November, he missed 50 games after breaking his arm in his Avalanche debut. … Sabres LW Johan Larsson made his season debut since sustaining a lower body injury during the preseason. D Zach Bogosian (lower body) was placed on injured reserve. … Sabres G Carter Hutton had 24 saves.UP NEXTAvalanche: Return home to play Calgary Flames on Saturday, before heading east for four-game road trip.Sabres: Open five-game road trip at Arizona on Saturday.