NEW YORK _ Few foresaw this at the start of the season but, in a party-like atmosphere at NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum, the Islanders left no doubt when it came to clinching their first playoff spot since 2016.
"We set out as a goal at the beginning of the year to be in this position," captain Anders Lee said. "A lot of people didn't think that was going to happen except the guys in this room. A big validation for us in the room and I think it would be nice just to prove as many people as we can wrong and continue to do that."
The Islanders, with two goals from Anthony Beauvillier, beat the disinterested Sabres, 5-1, before a sellout crowd of 13,917 on Saturday night, marking the first time they'd clinched a playoff spot at the Coliseum since a 5-4 win over the Capitals on April 6, 2002. It also marked the first time they have clinched a playoff spot in March since 1990.
The energized crowd repeatedly chanted "We Want Playoffs" and co-owner Jon Ledecky walked through the stands in the second period greeting fans.
"It's business as usual," said right wing Jordan Eberle, who scored his fourth goal in four games. "We have a mindset we're going to be in the playoffs. The biggest thing is to give ourselves the best opportunity now and that's to catch Washington."
The Islanders (46-26-7) remained three points behind the Capitals in the Metropolitan Division but moved four points ahead of the third-place Penguins, who have one game in hand, as they try to secure home-ice advantage in a playoff series for the first time since 1988.
Robin Lehner stopped 31 shots as his bid for a sixth shutout was denied by Victor Olofsson's power-play goal at 13:28 of the third period. A besieged Carton Hutton, who kept it close for a while, made 33 saves for the Sabres (31-37-10), who are in an 0-5-1 slide and are 3-16-3 since a 3-1 win over the Islanders at Buffalo on Feb. 12.
The crowd, anticipating a playoff berth that many thought unlikely after John Tavares left for the Maple Leafs, was loud from the opening faceoff and the Islanders translated that into a dominant start.
"They bring great energy for us," Trotz said. "Positive energy. We feed off the crowd. If you're negative, we're going to be negative. If they're positive, we're going to be positive. We're connected."
It was 9-1 in shots when Eberle, who had two third-period goals including the winner in Thursday night's come-from-behind, 5-4, win at Winnipeg, knocked in the rebound of Mathew Barzal's wrist shot for a 1-0 lead at 7:41. Sabres defenseman Brandon Montour dragged down Beauvillier on a breakaway at 12:23 and Hutton closed his pads to deny Beauvillier's first career penalty shot.
Beauvillier did make it 2-0, though, at 8:20 of the second period with a wrist shot from the slot for his first goal in 12 games. Rookie Michael Dal Colle, at the crease, made it 3-0 with 33.4 seconds left in the second, with his third goal and first since Feb. 2, a span of 11 games for him.
Ryan Pulock skated easily around Sabres captain Jack Eichel, who had broken his stick, to make it 4-0 just 30 seconds into the third period. Beauvillier's second pushed it to 5-0 at 6:07.
