The Islanders needed this one, but more than that, they needed this one in this way. They needed to hold a lead in the third period, something they’ve failed to do in five of the past seven games, and they needed the special teams to thrive after Patrick Roy called the power play “awful” a little more than 24 hours prior in Washington.

Anders Lee scored a power-play goal with 12:37 remaining in the second period and added an assist a little more than two minutes later as the New York Islanders avoided another collapse in the third period and earned a 3-0 victory over the visiting Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night in Elmont,