Schedule and 2007 Results
Regular Season Records: Buffalo 53-22-7=113pts, New York Islanders 40-30-12=92pts
Game 1 on Thursday, 12 April: N.Y. Islanders lose at Buffalo, 4-goals-1
Game 2 on Saturday, 14 April: N.Y. Islanders win at Buffalo, 3-goals-2
Game 3 on Monday, 16 April: Buffalo wins at N.Y. Islanders, 3-goals-2
Game 4 on Wednesday, 18 April: Buffalo wins at N.Y. Islanders, 4-goals-2
Game 5 on Friday, 20 April: N.Y. Islanders lose at Buffalo, 4-goals-3

SERIES NOTES:

After Game 5: With best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 990 back in Buffalo for Game 5, the Buffalo Sabres hosted and defeated the New York Islanders 4-goals-3 to complete a 4-games-1 win of series 990. With the series 990 win, the Buffalo Sabres improve their best-of-7 NHL playoff series record to 14-22 overall and 7-8 in the Preliminary round. With the series 990 loss, the New York Islanders see their best-of-7 NHL playoff series record fall to 21-16 overall and 2-7 in the Preliminary round. The victorious Buffalo Sabres established a series 990 win order of WLWWW: Series 990 thus becomes the sixth best-of-7 NHL Preliminary round series, the 30th best-of-7 NHL playoff series (all rounds), and the 65th best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series (all rounds) to follow this win order. Later on Friday 20 April 2007, series 997 would be won by the San Jose Sharks via the WLWWW win order, just as the Ottawa Senators had also followed the WLWWW win order in the 2007 NHL playoffs in series 993.

After Game 4: The Buffalo Sabres visited and defeated the New York Islanders 4-goals-2 to take a 3-games-1 lead in best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 990. When leading a best-of-7 NHL playoff series 3-games-1, the Buffalo Sabres have a perfect series record of 6-0 and a Game 5 record of 4-2. When trailing a best-of-7 NHL playoff series 3-games-1, the New York Islanders have a series record of 2-10 (with an active five-series losing streak) and a Game 5 record of 5-7 (with an active four-Game 5 losing streak). The two Islander comeback series victories in this situation (down 3-games-1) occurred in series 295 (against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1975 NHL Quarterfinals; this was the series in which New York had trailed 3-games-nil) and 479 (against the Washington Capitals in the 1987 NHL Preliminary round).

After Game 3: With best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 990 still within New York state but having shifted from upstate to Long Island for Games 3-4, the Buffalo Sabres visited and defeated the New York Islanders 3-goals-2 in Game 3 to take a 2-games-1 series lead. When leading a best-of-7 NHL playoff series 2-games-1, the Buffalo Sabres have an 8-3 series record and a 5-6 Game 4 record. When trailing a best-of-7 NHL playoff series 2-games-1, the New York Islanders have a 4-9 series record (with a three-series losing streak) and a 6-7 Game 4 record. Buffalo has an 8-3 series record when leading 2-games-1, but the first of those three losses occurred in series 310, which the Sabres lost to the Islanders in the 1976 NHL Quarterfinals in seven games. Series 310 thus offers a favorable precedent for the Islanders in series 990.

After Game 2: The New York Islanders visited and defeated the Buffalo Sabres 3-goals-2, thus tying best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 990 at 1-game-all. When tied 1-game-all in a best-of-7 NHL playoff series, the New York Islanders have a series record of 7-6 and a Game 3 record of 5-8 (with a three-Game 3 losing streak). When tied 1-game-all in a best-of-7 NHL playoff series, the Buffalo Sabres have a series record of 4-8 and a Game 3 record of 6-6. With an LW@VV win/site order, the New York Islanders are following the same path as their last best-of-7 NHL playoff series (series 906 vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2004 NHL Preliminary round; New York would lose series 906 in five games to the eventual 2004 NHL champions).

After Game 1: The Buffalo Sabres hosted and defeated the New York Islanders 4-goals-1 to take a 1-game-nil lead in best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 990. When leading a best-of-7 NHL playoff series 1-game-nil, the Buffalo Sabres have a series record of 12-9 and a Game 2 record of 10-11. When trailing a best-of-7 NHL playoff series 1-game-nil, the New York Islanders have a series record of 7-12 (with a four-series losing streak) and a Game 2 record of 8-11. In best-of-7 NHL playoff series from 1939 through 2006, teams such as Buffalo that win Game 1 at home by three goals have a 46-16 (.742) series record.

Pre-series assessment: In the 2006-07 regular season, Buffalo finished 21 points ahead of the New York Islanders. From 1905 through the 2006 MLB Finals, when NHL teams led their best-of-7 playoff series opponents by 21 regular-season points, they have posted an 8-3 (.727) best-of-7 series record in those series against those opponents. Best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 990 is the 37th best-of-7 playoff series for the New York Islanders, and the 36th for Buffalo. In best-of-7 playoff series, the New York Islanders have a 21-15 series record (with an active five-series losing streak), a 2-6 Prelim-round series record, and a 17-19 Game 1 record, while Buffalo has a 13-22 series record, a 6-8 Prelim-round record, and a 21-14 Game 1 record. Series 990 is the fourth best-of-7 meeting between the New York Islanders and Buffalo; New York won the previous three such meetings (best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 310, in the 1976 NHL Quarterfinals; series 325, in the 1977 NHL Quarterfinals; series 372, in the 1980 NHL Semifinals).