Playoff Pushes: The Islanders and Sabres are separated by one point in the Eastern Conference standings with slightly more than 30 games remaining in the season. If the Islanders are going to make the playoffs, they have to leapfrog teams like the Sabres. If the Sabres are going to make the playoffs, they have to leapfrog teams like the Islanders. Every game is a must-win. A win is huge and a loss is devastating for either team at this point.

Sabres not Scoring: The Sabres big three of Thomas Vanek, Derek Roy and Pominville have struggled since their last trip to Long Island on Jan. 14. In their seven games since playing the Isles, Vanek and Roy haven’t recorded a point and Pominville has posted only three (2g/1a). As a result, the Sabres have lost five of their last seven while being outscored 21-10. With Vanek sidelined by an upper body injury, Roy and Pominville look to reverse their misfortunes where the funk began, Nassau Coliseum.

Rough Stuff: The Sabres may reside in upstate New York, but the Islanders play them as if they were from Manhattan or Newark. In their two previous meetings, they have totaled 40 penalty minutes and two fights. With so much on the line, don’t be surprised if the gloves come off for this game.

Evgeni Nabokov earned his 300th career victory as the Islanders beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-2 on Jan. 14 at Nassau Coliseum. Nabokov faced down a Thomas Vanek penalty shot with 1:24 remaining to preserve the lead and stopped 23 of 25 shots. Michael Grabner scored two goals, including the game-winner with 3:03 remaining in the third period. Kyle Okposo and Matt Moulson rounded out the Islanders scoring, while Patrick Kaleta and Derek Roy lit the lamp for the Sabres.

Answer from Friday's question: Who is the lone Islanders goalie to record a shutout against the Ottawa Senators? The answer is: Ron Hextall. Hextall blanked the Senators 4-0 on Feb. 19, 1994 to kick off the longest consecutive home shutout streak in Islanders history. He followed it up with two more shutouts at the Coliseum, a record that DiPietro tied in December 2006.

Travis Hamonic on Saturday's game vs. Buffalo: “They’ve had a couple days off from their last game. They are going to be ready for us, but it’s a team I think we played pretty well the last couple of games. They are a quick skating bunch, their d-men move the puck really well and their forwards like to get in on the fore-check. We have to make sure that we keep five guys ahead of us and try and come out and play a good game.”