The month of November begins and ends with the New York Islanders.

The Sabres host the Islanders tonight at KeyBank Center to open a three-game season series between the two teams, which continues on Long Island on Nov. 30. The Sabres enter the matchup having won eight of their last 11 meetings with the Islanders.

Tonight will be Hockey Fights Cancer Night, presented by Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, with all fans in attendance receiving a commemorative scarf. Find more information on this year’s guest of honor, special initiatives, and ways to support Hockey Fights Cancer here.

• Tickets for tonight

The puck drops at 7 p.m. Here’s everything you need to know in the meantime.

How to watch

TV (Buffalo broadcast market): MSG (Pregame coverage begins at 6:30 p.m.)

Streaming (out of market): ESPN+

Radio: WGR 550

Click here for more ways to watch Sabres games.

Lineup notes

The Sabres tweaked their forward lines for practice on Thursday, including a move for Dylan Cozens from center to the right wing alongside Jordan Greenway and Ryan McLeod.

Jack Quinn, who had previously been skating on the wing alongside Cozens, moved to a line centered by Peyton Krebs with Jason Zucker on the opposite flank.

Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said the moves were made in an effort to spark both Cozens’ and Quinn’s offensive games.

“I’m trying to free [Cozens] up to get him a few more opportunities,” Ruff said. “You get him with a left-handed centerman that can get him the puck and possibly use his speed. We’re trying to get both him and Jack a little bit of a different look and see if it works and get us a little more offense and get both of those guys going.”

Stay tuned for more lineup updates following the Sabres’ morning skate, which is scheduled for 10:30 a.m.

Here’s how the group lined up for practice on Thursday:

Thursday's practice lines

Storylines

1. Thompson’s point streak

Tage Thompson enters tonight on a seven-game point streak, with six goals and five assists in that span. An eight-game point streak would be the longest of his career.

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

“He’s playing with a lot of passion,” Ruff said. “He’s working extremely hard. His tracking, his work ethic has been great. And I think when you’re back on the bench and you hear a guy that is being 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 two consecutive games – both off the stick of forward Jason Zucker – after opening the season 0-for-22.

Sabres assistant coach Seth Appert attributed the recent success to steady improvement he has seen throughout the season in terms of how the units have entered the zone, won battles to maintain possession off missed shots, and moved the puck to generate scoring chances.

“It’s been a slow, steady march of buying into the process of how we enter, how we get pucks back, how we attack retrievals, how we solve pressure out of retrievals, and all of those things need to be in order for the players to then allow their skill to shine,” Appert said.

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

The Sabres will have an opportunity to take another step against the Islanders’ penalty kill, which is tied for last in the NHL with a 62.5-percent success rate.

3. Scouting the Islanders

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

New York’s offense has been the key culprit in its 3-5-2 start, including three straight losses entering Friday. The Islanders are coming off a 2-0 loss to the Blue Jackets on Wednesday, their fourth time being shut out through the first 10 games of 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 apiece.

Game notes

• Owen Power enters Friday on a career-best five-game point streak, with one goal and six assists in that span. He’s tied for fourth among NHL defensemen with eight even-strength points this season.

• Rasmus Dahlin scored his first goal of the season against Florida on Tuesday, which moved him into a tie with Jerry Korab for third among defensemen in franchise history with 67 career goals. He’s two points shy of reaching 300 for his career, a feat that only Phil Housley (558) and Mike Ramsey (329) have reached among defensemen in Sabres history.

• Jason Zucker has seven points in the last seven games, including a power-play goal in each of the last two contests.