The 2024-25 season has reached the holiday break as teams won’t play again until Dec. 27, so for the players, coaches, and everyone else, it’s a much-needed few days off.

The exact details of what former Islanders netminder Robin Lehner is going through are not completely clear, but the string of posts 10 days ago made it obvious that it is serious.

In a matchup between the cellar dwellers of both Eastern Conference divisions, the New York Islanders lost by a shocking total Monday evening. The Buffalo Sabres came to UBS Arena and ended their 13-game losing streak with a resounding 7-1 beatdown of the home team.

For all the ceiling the Islanders had shown just two days prior, here came the thud that has acted as a metronome to the season’s first 35 games.

Rasmus Dahlin tallied a career-high four assists in his return to the lineup as the Buffalo Sabres defeated the New York Islanders 7-1 at UBS Arena on Monday, ending a 13-game winless streak (0-10-3).

The New York Islanders and New York Rangers have been involved in four of the last five conference finals. Both teams have made the playoffs in the previous two seasons. They have two of the top 10 goalies in the league, a handful of high-end players, high-profile coaches and general managers.

Islanders play one more game before the holiday break. It's against the Sabres and it might make or break their season.

The New York Islanders were eager for their star to return from injury, but he's struggled since rejoining the lineup.

The Sabres outshot the Islanders 8-5 in the first period. While on the power play, Zucker extended the Sabres lead to 3-0 at 6:53 of the second. His one-timer from the high slot off a feed from Quinn at the top of the left circle beat Sorokin high glove side.

The team is stagnating and feeling the weight of bad decisions, but finding someone to get them back on track will be harder than it sounds.

The Buffalo Sabres are one of the worst teams in the NHL. Buffalo entered play having lost 13 straight games and they looked largely uninspired on the ice. The Sabres even had a meeting with the team owners to try and figure things out.