They were playing for a second consecutive night after a gritty and emotional win in Ottawa 24 hours earlier. But that was no excuse for the Islanders to squander a two-goal lead or to settle for a 4-3 shootout loss on home ice Saturday against Buffalo.

"We talked after the second period about how good playoff teams find a way to win these games, when they're not at their best," defenseman Andrew MacDonald told Newsday. "We were kind of hanging on there for the second half of the game.

"At this stage of the game, you have to win these ones to have a shot in the long run."

The Isles weren't particularly sharp early on, but they led 3-1 after one period after capitalizing on a couple of turnovers in the Buffalo zone.

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Back by popular demand, here are your Puck Previews: Spotlighting the key games in NHL action, news and views as well as general frivolity. Make sure to stop back here for the nightly Three Stars when the games are finished. … Continue reading ?

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No. 1 Star: Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers With no Ryan Suter and no Pekka Rinne, the Nashville Predators weren't quite themselves, falling 3-0 on goals by Dan Girardi, John Mitchell, and Ryan Callahan. That said, it might not have … Continue reading ?

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The Philadelphia Flyers have been winning with regularity since their Winter Classic loss to the New York Rangers. Another chance to play New York's other team provided an even bigger lift. Backup goalie Sergei Bobrovsky continued his superlative play against the Islanders, stopping 33 shots, and the Flyers won for the 26th time in 28 games against Long Island's team, 3-2 on Thursday night.

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By IRA PODELL AP Sports Writer

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ANAHEIM, Calif. - Ryan Getzlaf, Bobby Ryan and Corey Perry finally clicked in the same game for the struggling Anaheim Ducks.

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With wins over Calgary and Edmonton to close out 2011, the Islanders oddly improved to 14-1-7 at home against Western Conference teams dating to November 2009.

Of course, the Isles haven't played nearly as well within their own conference—the East—or in the loaded Atlantic Division. And they arrived in the New Year well out of a playoff spot before returning to action Tuesday in Carolina.

"Consistency has been our problem all year," Frans Nielsen said before Saturday's 4-1 win over Edmonton. "We know what we have to do, but for some reason there are some games where we don't bring it. ... When we turn pucks over, we make more mental mistakes, make bad decisions. It's not that we don't compete hard.

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UNIONDALE, N.Y. - Jamie Benn can't explain the correlation between his multi-point games and the Dallas Stars' success.

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Do not make too big a deal about the stats, warn the Calgary Flames.

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PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The great wait is finally over for Sidney Crosby.

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