Isles lanced by Sabres

BUFFALO — The Islanders tried to play cute — and the result wasn’t pretty.

“When we start playing cute, we don’t have a whole lot of success,” forward Matt Martin said after the Isles saw their three-game win streak end with a 3-1 loss to the Sabres on Tuesday night.

Martin — who set up Casey Cizikas’ goal after Cal Clutterbuck capitalized on Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen’s turnover deep in Buffalo’s end to tie the game at 1 in the final minute of the first period — credited the Sabres’ forechecking style for knocking the Islanders off their game through the first two periods.

“For two periods tonight we didn’t play the brand of hockey we’re used to and it cost us,” Martin added. “We were better in the third, but that’s too little, too late then.”

For the Sabres, Jack Eichel set up two goals to spark an opportunistic offense, and goalie Linus Ullmark stopped 24 shots — including all 10 in the third period.

“You’ve got to stay patient against a team like that,” Eichel said of an opponent that entered the game allowing a league-low 133 goals. “We just matched their intensity.” The win followed a 3-1 loss to Winnipeg on Sunday in which Eichel refused to acknowledge how well the Sabres played in a game decided in the final four minutes.

Islanders goalie Robin Lehner stopped 19 shots against his former team, but the Isles lost in regulation for just the second time in 13 games (9-2-2).