Sabres coach Don Granato made things plain.
He did not challenge Casey Cizikas goal on Saturday night — the one that became the winner in the Islanders’ 3-2 victory over Buffalo — out of some sense of desperation.
He believed Noah Dobson was offside on the entry leading to the goal.
And based on his comments following the game, Granato is not convinced he was wrong, despite the goal being upheld.
“You clearly are challenging it because it looks offside,” Granato told reporters. “The question is the discretion, whether it’s offside, obviously based on possession. And you can argue whether he had possession or not.
“Obviously, the linesman is reviewing his own call. We lost the argument.”
The league’s explanation, citing Rule 83.1, said Dobson “had possession and control of the puck as he entered the attacking zone.”
Thus, even if he seemed to be over the blue line, he was in good standing.
“I knew it was close,” Dobson said. “It’s a close play, but game of inches and you get those breaks and [we] get a win tonight.”
Even Islanders coach Lane Lambert, when asked if he thought the review would go his team’s way, did say yes.
“Well it was close,” he said. “And obviously the league does its thing. We’re just happy that the call went our way. The referee checks for a high stick and then Buffalo challenged for offsides. It worked out for us tonight.”
Granato’s unhappiness extended to the Islanders’ first goal of the night, which he thought included a missed tripping call when Pierre Engvall won the puck from Connor Clifton.
“Clifton got tripped up on that play,” he said. “And that was the first goal.”
Engvall seemed to be aware that he may have gotten a break.
“I thought I had a step on him,” Engvall said. “I was lucky he fell. Or if I tripped him, I don’t know.”
Oliver Wahlstrom was a healthy scratch, along with Julien Gauthier and Samuel Bolduc, and continues to build up his knee as he returns from surgery.
“Feel like I’m pretty good, I feel like I’m there,” Wahlstrom said. “Just important now to keep going, keep getting my leg bigger and go from there. That’s the main focus right now.”
Brock Nelson replaced Josh Bailey as an alternate captain, joining Cal Clutterbuck with an “A” on his sweater. With his first period goal, he also moved into second place on the franchise’s all-time list for opening night goals with six, behind only Mike Bossy’s seven.