Houser shines with 45 saves as Sabres top Islanders 4-3 in shootout

BUFFALO, N.Y. [WKBW] — For the second straight night, the Buffalo Sabres overcame a two-goal deficit to knock off the New York Islanders, winning in a shootout 4-3. Anders Bjork led the way with two goals and a successful attempt in the shootout while Michael Houser was once again exceptional, turning away 45 Islanders shots.

"Everyone was playing for each other out there and I felt like they were playing for me too," Houser said after his second consecutive NHL win. "I felt way more comfortable tonight and I think that was due to playing last night."

As Houser turned away the final shootout attempt, he let out an audible scream that could be heard from the press box. His teammates immediately swarmed the 28-year-old goaltender who was playing in the ECHL last season. With his win on Tuesday, Houser is now 2-0 in his NHL career with a .940 save percentage.

"It's incredible, he's done an amazing job," Anders Bjork said. "We're all so proud of him and excited for him."

Cody Eakin opened the scoring for the Sabres in the first period as he converted for his third goal of the season. The Islanders responded less than 30 seconds later as Anthony Beauvillier scored his 14th goal of the season to tie things up.

New York broke the tie in the second period with goals from Ryan Pulock and Cal Clutterbuck to give the road team a 3-1 lead.

Later in the middle frame, the Sabres responded, as Anders Bjork scored his second goal as a Sabre, re-directing a shot from Colin Miller. Bjork came up clutch once again in the third period, converting on a wrist shot from in close to tie the game at three.

"We responded well and competed for 60 minutes," Bjork added. "I'm trying to improve and build for the remainder of this year and hopefully into next year as well."

Buffalo closes out the season this weekend with two games against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday and Saturday.