Scenarios

1. Thompson’s point streak

Tage Thompson begins a seven-game point streak tonight, with six goals and five assists during that span. A streak of eight consecutive games with at least one point would be the longest of his career.

Thompson, an alternate captain for the first time this season, has been a model of consistency for the Sabres, both in terms of offensive production and his commitment to the team’s new identity under Ruff. On the bench, he has been a vocal leader.

“He plays with a lot of passion,” Ruff said. “He works extremely hard. His follow-up, his work ethic were excellent. And I think when you’re back on the bench and you hear a guy who’s a great example on the ice, it’s really good for our club.

Thompson enters Friday tied for second in the NHL with seven even-strength goals, one behind Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov.

2. The power play

The Sabres’ power play has scored in back-to-back games — both thanks to forward Jason Zucker — after opening the season 0-for-22.

Sabers assistant coach Seth Appert attributed the recent success to the steady improvement he’s seen throughout the season in how units entered the zone, won battles to maintain possession on missed shots and moved the puck to generate scoring chances.

“It’s been a slow, steady march of adhering to the process of how we enter, how we get pucks, how we attack recoveries, how we resolve pressure from recoveries, and all of those things need to be in order to players to then allow their skills to shine,” Appert said.

“And so, I think we’ve done a better job of that. Not perfect. We have a lot of work to do. And I think in the last five or six games we’ve converted all of that into scoring chances and now a few of them have started to find the net.

The Sabers will have an opportunity to take another step against the shorthanded Islanders, who are tied for last in the NHL with a 62.5 percent success rate.

3. Islander Scouting

Despite their low penalty kill percentage, the Islanders have been typically good at limiting goals against this season. They have allowed 16 goals at 5-on-5, tied for sixth-most in the NHL.

New York’s offense has been the main culprit for its 3-5-2 start, with three straight losses Friday. The Islanders are coming off a 2-0 loss to the Blue Jackets on Wednesday, their fourth shutout in the first 10 games this season.

The Islanders rank last in the league with an average of 2.10 goals per game. Forwards Kyle Palmieri and Brock Nelson lead the team with four each.