Wexford's Michael Houser wins NHL debut after 8-plus years in minors

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Michael Houser stopped 34 shots in his NHL debut, Sam Reinhart scored twice in Buffalo’s three-goal third period, and the Sabres beat the playoff-bound New York Islanders 4-2 on Monday night.

Tage Thompson and Rasmund Asplund also scored for Buffalo, which trailed 2-0 early in the second period.

“It’s super exciting. I’m not really in that great of game shape either. I’ll admit that,” the 28-year-old Houser said. “After the game celebrating and everything, I could barely breathe, so I’m just trying to catch my breath right now, give my parents a shout after this and see what their take is on it.”

Houser, a native of Youngstown, Ohio, grew up in Wexford and played his youth hockey with the Pittsburgh Hornets. He spent the past 8½ seasons in the minor leagues, playing 210 ECHL games with three teams and 73 AHL games with four clubs.

It was his first game since March 7, 2020 with Cincinnati of the ECHL.

“A very special night, special person,” Sabres coach Don Granato said. “So, great to be a part of it. And the locker room was even better. The rallying in the locker room was very, very enjoyable for all. What a moment.”

Adam Pelech and Oliver Wahlstrom scored for the Islanders. Semyon Varlamov, coming off three straight shutouts, finished with 36 saves.

The Islanders fell to fourth place in the Eastern Division — one point behind Boston, which beat New Jersey 3-0. The Bruins also have a game in hand on the Islanders.

“I thought we played with a little bit of arrogance,” Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. “You know, let’s get in the inside, play our game, and we were just saying, ‘Oh, it’s going to be easy, we’ve got a lead,’ and then we just made it easy for them.”

The teams finish their season series Tuesday night in Buffalo.

Thompson’s power-play goal got the Sabres on the scoreboard with 5:56 left in the second period and ended Varlamov’s shutout streak at 248 minutes.

Asplund tied the score with 8:35 remaining in the third.

Reinhart gave the Sabres a 3-2 lead with 4:04 left and sealed the win with an empty-netter, his career high-tying 25th, with 52 seconds to go.

“A hundred percent (disappointing),” Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech said. “Even though we clinched a playoff spot and had an emotional weekend (against the New York Rangers), that’s not an excuse. … We need to be better tomorrow night and going forward for the rest of the season here heading into the playoffs.”

Buffalo was without injured goalies Dustin Tokarski, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Carter Hutton and Linus Ullmark.