Islanders 3, Sabres 2: Rookie Anders Lee and Mikhail Grabovski scored 62 seconds apart in the second period as visiting New York avenged a shootout loss to Buffalo in late December.

Colin McDonald, called up from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League on Sunday, notched his first goal of the season as the Islanders won for only the second time in six games. Defenseman Travis Hamonic collected a pair of assists and Jaroslav Halak needed to make only eight saves to improve to 6-2-0 lifetime against the Sabres.

Marcus Foligno scored a goal and set up Drew Stafford's tally in a belated comeback bid for Buffalo, which was seeking back-to-back victories for the first time since a four-game winning streak from Dec. 9-15. Michal Neuvirth, in his first appearance since Jan. 17, turned aside 28 shots in losing his ninth consecutive start.

McDonald finished a 2-on-1 by burying a crossing pass from Casey Cizikas for the opening goal with 3:41 left in the opening period. Lee doubled the lead on the power play midway through the second, collecting Hamonic's errant shot off the end boards and stuffing it home before the defenseman set up Grabovski's one-timer in the slot just over a minute later for a 3-0 edge.

Buffalo surrendered the first 10 shots of the period but battled back as Foligno crashed the net to knocked home a rebound at 12:33. Foligno, playing for the first time in seven weeks, then forced a turnover and fed a cutting Stafford, who slipped a backhander past Halak nearly 2 1/2 minutes later to cut the deficit to 3-2.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Lee's 16th tally kept him two behind Nashville's Filip Forsberg for the most goals among NHL rookies. ... Foligno, who has been sidelined since undergoing surgery on his hand in December, has four tallies in his last seven games. ... F Frans Nielsen became the first player from Denmark to appear in 500 games for the Islanders, who were without Cal Clutterbuck and Michael Grabner (upper body) as well as D Calvin de Haan, who was cut in the face by a skate in Saturday's loss at Boston.