BUFFALO Martin Frk 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, 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 http://www.officialredwings.com/authentic-adidas-mike-green-jersey , 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, 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.— LAS VEGAS (AP) After the Winnipeg Jets lost Game 3 of the Western Conference final, goaltender Connor Hellebuyck didn’t seem fazed and spoke like a confident veteran rather than a third-year player whose team appears to be unraveling.The Vezina Trophy-finalist went as far to say he liked his game better than the guy about 200 feet across the rink – 14-year veteran Marc-Andre Fleury, who stopped 33 of 35 shots and improved to 10-3 in the postseason.”I like my game, I like it a lot more,” Hellebuyck said after making 26 saves in Wednesday’s loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. ”I like my details and will continue chugging away and getting better every single day.”If Game 3 is any indication of the type of game Vegas will bring into Friday night’s Game 4 Nick Jensen Jersey , Hellebuyck needs to get better urgently.”I think we’ve been capitalizing on some chances we’ve been getting,” Vegas forward Cody Eakin said after Thursday’s practice. ”Getting to the dirty area, smackin’ `em into the blue paint. He’s a heck of a goalie and he’s played very well all season and all playoffs for them. It’s just one of things where you have a game plan, you stick to it. Whether it’s the bounces or capitalizing on a rush or whatever it may be, we’re just trying to finish every chance we get.”Like 35 seconds into Game 3, when a premature poke-check by Hellebuyck led to a goal by Jonathan Marchessault. Hellebuyck’s ill-advised mistake allowed Marchessault to use a forehand-backhand deke and give Vegas the momentum early with a 1-0 lead.In the second period, Hellebuyck went behind the net and lifted the puck to clear it but Erik Haula was there to knock it down and feed James Neal, who found the open net to give Vegas a 2-1 lead just 12 seconds after Mark Scheifele tied the score.Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice refuses to blame his goalie, though, and seemed fine Thursday, with the rather braggadocious manner Hellebuyck speaks with, despite allowing three or more goals for the second consecutive game and fifth time in his last nine games.”It’ll be across the crease, no chance in hell he’s getting that puck, and he believes he can stop that puck,” Maurice said. ”I don’t plan to stomp that mentality. He believes he can stop everyone, and then he moves on pretty darned well. He doesn’t carry it too heavy with him. He’s got confidence in the right way.”So does Fleury, who leads the NHL with a career-best 1.70 goals-against average during the playoffs. And if the Jets can’t get more production outside of Scheifele, they’ll find themselves on the brink of elimination after Friday’s game.Scheifele Thomas Vanek Jersey , who now owns the NHL record for most goals scored on the road in a single playoff with 11, has 14 goals and six assists in 15 games. But for a dangerous team that gotten this far because of its depth, guys like Vegas defensemen Nate Schmidt, Brayden McNabb and Shea Theodore have shown they can keep the Jets in their own zone or disrupt things in the neutral zone.”A few miscues and they made us pay for it – that can’t happen,” said Scheifele, who has three of the Jets’ seven goals in this series. ”They’re going to have their games, we’re going to have our games. We can’t sulk on this too long. We gotta pick ourselves up and be ready for a big game on Friday.”The Jets showed some life in the third period on Wednesday, and certainly outplayed what appeared to be a weary Vegas team over the final 20 minutes, but Fleury was outstanding in coming up with tremendous highlight saves to preserve the win.”I think we’re starting to get a better understanding of how we have to attack and how we have to approach the net,” Maurice said. ”At 2-1, we’re all aware that we’re down 2-1, but it’s still fairly early in the series. Both teams are going to come out guns-a-blazing and try to give the other team nothing.”History is against the Jets, who are trailing in a series for the first time this postseason. Teams with a 2-1 lead in the conference final (or NHL semifinals) have won the series 35 of 43 times (81.4 percent) since 1975.And unless Hellebuyck’s confidence translates into keeping the puck out of his net, and Scheifele gets some help at the other end, history is bound to repeat itself.—