Horvat finishes the Islanders' win. Rantanen drives Buffalo's shutout loss.

Bo Horvat scored the first and last Islanders goals in a 4-1 win over Chicago at UBS Arena on Thursday. Across the state, Mikko Rantanen had a goal and three assists as Dallas beat Buffalo 4-0. Both New York clubs are 2-2-0 after four games.

The contrast is in how the scoring arrived. The Islanders established a lead and answered Chicago's late extra-attacker goal. Buffalo never scored, while one Dallas forward contributed to every goal against it.

Horvat at both ends of the score sheet

Horvat opened on the power play at 19:03 of the first period. Emil Heineman and Anthony Duclair extended the lead in the second. Frank Nazar cut it to 3-1 late in the third before Horvat scored into an empty net. Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves.

Horvat has a power-play goal in three straight games, according to the NHL recap. That is a useful early-season thread to follow. It is not a guarantee that New York's special teams will carry every game, but Thursday's opening goal supplied the lead the Islanders protected.

Dallas spread the goals, not the influence

Rantanen assisted on goals by Jason Robertson, Sam Steel and Roope Hintz and scored himself. Dallas scored three times in the second period. The official NHL game summary credits Jake Oettinger with stopping all 26 Buffalo shots.

Our read: Buffalo's review needs more than a shot count. Twenty-six saves establish what the goalie stopped, not the quality of every chance or the traffic in front of him. The Islanders can take a clean result from their lead protection; the Sabres have to examine how Dallas converted its openings and how their own offense can make a goalkeeper's work harder.