UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- When the New York Islanders lead was cut in half in the opening minute of the third period, the sense of impending doom began wafting through Nassau Coliseum. After all, the Islanders had won just nine of 20 previous games in which they led after two periods. But Ryan Strome scored 39 seconds later to restore the two-goal lead, and New York cruised from there Saturday night to a 4-1 victory over the lowly Buffalo Sabres. On a recently completed road trip, the Islanders let two-goal leads get away in the third periods of losses to Edmonton and Calgary on consecutive nights. "When (Buffalo) got that power-play goal to start the third period, I know you guys were thinking, Here we go again," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. "We battled back and we were resilient. It was a good bench. Guys were positive." Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo staked the Islanders to a 2-0 lead in the first period. Strome then netted the big goal to push back the Sabres, and Cal Clutterbuck sealed the win with an empty-net goal one night after New York lost 4-3 at home to San Jose. The Islanders (26-34-9) earned their 10th home win (10-17-8), and did it in a rare matchup against an opponent they are ahead of in the standings. "Anybody can beat anybody in this league no matter where you are," Okposo said. "Thats been proven throughout this whole year. Theyve got some skill over there. "We stuck with our game plan and we outplayed them." Backup goalie Anders Nilsson (3-4-2) earned the win in his 15th NHL game. He lost his shutout bid 56 seconds into the third when Tyler Ennis scored. Nilsson made 33 saves while subbing for No. 1 netminder Evgeni Nabokov, who lost on Friday. "I had the post with me one time, and I think the whole team in front of me played an unbelievable game," said Nilsson, who will turn 24 next week. "They cleared the guys who were in front of me, so I got a clear view of every shot. That makes it a lot easier." Jhonas Enroth stopped 34 shots for Buffalo, which has the fewest points and goals in the NHL. "Scoring has been our problem all season. Tonight was no different," Enroth said. "The effort was there, but we struggle to finish." Earlier in this disappointing season, the Islanders and Sabres swapped star forwards Matt Moulson and Thomas Vanek, but both impending free agents have both been dealt elsewhere since. Fans periodically voiced loud chants of "Snow Must Go," directed toward Islanders general manager Garth Snow. Despite being outshot 14-10 and short-handed three times in the first period, the Islanders took a 2-0 lead. Nielsen put New York in front before the games first stoppage, and Okposo doubled the lead with a power-play goal. After holding his stick in the air waiting to fire, Nielsen unleashed a hard drive from the left circle that struck Enroths glove and found its way in at 3:31 for his 22nd goal. Okposo made it 2-0 with 2:36 left when he corralled a pass from Brock Nelson in the slot and whipped a shot past Enroth 1:11 into Henrik Tallinders holding penalty. It was Okposos team-leading 27th goal and 69th point. He also helped set up Nielsens goal, tying him with injured captain John Tavares with a club-best 42 assists. New York nearly had a third goal, but Enroth made a fine stop against Josh Bailey at the left post when he tried to follow up on Nelsons wraparound attempt. Buffalo mustered five shots during its three failed power plays in the first period. The only advantage the Sabres gave to the Islanders in the frame proved costly when Okposo scored on New Yorks only shot. The trend reversed in the second when New York had a 14-10 shots edge, but neither team scored. Nilssons first scare came when he stopped a shot by Matt DAgostini 2:13 into the second and then had to reach behind him after the puck slid through him and trickled toward the open net. "I thought I had it, but then I heard the fans chanting a little, so I figured it was probably laying behind me," Nilsson said. "Those things happen, but luckily it didnt end up in the net." The Sabres nearly got on the board in the final two seconds of the middle frame when Drew Stafford ripped a shot off a faceoff win in the Islanders end during a Buffalo power play, but Nilsson was there to block it. Ennis scored his 18th goal during that advantage. "You cant expect to win if you score only one goal," Sabres coach Ted Nolan said. "We had some good looks, but we couldnt finish." NOTES: Okposo is one goal shy of 100 in the NHL. ... The Sabres recalled D Rasmus Ristolainen from Rochester (AHL) due to the absence of D Tyler Myers (arm), who will also likely miss Sundays home game against Montreal. ... New York agreed to terms with 2012 draft pick D Adam Pelech on a three-year, entry-level contract. Cheap Jerseys From China . -- Jonathan Vilmas season is over and his future on the football field is in doubt. Soccer Jerseys . "That was a great lift for the staff," Padres manager Bud Black said. Yonder Alonso and Yasmani Grandal homered, and Chase Headley drove in three runs, as the Padres beat the Chicago Cubs 11-1 on Friday night. https://www.cheapjerseysjustwholesale.com/. Both sides came closest to scoring in the first half, when Roma had a goal from Mattia Destro waved off for offside and Inters Rodrigo Palacio headed high. "A draw was a fair result. Neither squad had many chances," Roma midfielder Miralem Pjanic said. NHL Jerseys .85 million contract with the two-time Gold Glove outfielder. Parra earned his second Gold Glove last season when he set a club record with 17 outfield assists. MLB Jerseys . -- Jerome Verrier scored once and set up two more as the Drummondville Voltigeurs downed the visiting Chicoutimi Sagueneens 5-1 on Friday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League play. PARIS -- Milos Raonic hopes his recent success on clay leads to a long run at the French Open. The Canadian star won his opening match at the second Grand Slam of the year on Sunday, beating Australian wildcard Nick Kyrgios 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 to reach the second round. Raonic, the eighth seed from Thornhill, Ont., needed exactly two hours to advance against one of the games rising young stars. He also beat an Australian opponent for the first time at a Grand Slam after losing to Carsten Ball at the 2010 U.S. Open and Lleyton Hewitt at the 2012 Australian Open. He won on his third match point, sealing victory with a 27th ace. Raonic, who came to Roland Garros from a Rome semifinal last weekend, finished with 50 winners and 30 unforced errors, breaking on four of ten chances. "I felt very good, I was able to do the things I wanted to do," said Raonic, who next plays one of two Czechs, Lukas Rosol of Jiri Vesely. "In the first round you go in not knowing exactly how things are going to play out. When it mattered, I was able to put forward the right attitude and the right level of tennis. Im happy with that." Raonic has a career record of 32-23 on clay courts, compared to 100-42 on hard surfaces that dont deaden his powerful serve. But Raonic had two quarter-final appearances as well as the Rome semifinal in four clay-court tournaments leading up to the French Open. Hes trying to go beyond the third round at Roland Garros for the first time in his career. Later Sunday, sixth seed Tomas Berdych beat Canadian qualifier Peter Polansky of Thornhill 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Polansky, ranked 137th and playing in only his sixth career singles main draw at a major, last played a Grand Slam at the 2010 US Open. He was successful on only one of six break points while committing 21 unforced errors with 15 winners.dddddddddddd "Its good to be back in the main draw of a slam," said Polansky. "I played well and enjoyed it. I was hoping to get a better draw, there are a lot of guys I could have beaten today. "I played well, I just came up a it short. But I take a lot of positives out of the last few weeks. Maybe I have more belief in my game now that Im older." Raonic said that despite heavy conditions in wet Paris, the courts held up well compared to Rome. "Theyre quite similar, though here they can change a little bit more due to the cloud coverage and not really that much sun the last few days," he said. "The ball wasnt bouncing as much as it had actually the last days on the outside courts. The 23-year-old Raonic used his experience against the young Australian, reducing Kyrgios to racket-hurling frustration after breaking immediately after losing serve in the second set. Raonic began the third set with a break for 2-0, lost it, but again gained the lead 4-2 on his way to victory. Raonic said that he was having trouble at times on serve, but managed to fight through the problem. "I was getting it together when it mattered, and thats all I can really ask," he said. "There was some moments where I was losing a little bit of concentration on my level, and I was able to put it together when I was in the important moments." After answering on-court questions in French, Raonic then said he would tweet a message in the language later. He said he would have the tweet proofed by an expert speaker before broadcasting it to his 143,000 followers. ' ' '