(Sports Network) - The New York Islanders hope to ride goaltender Rick DiPietro to another victory tonight, when they host the top-seeded Buffalo Sabres at Nassau Coliseum in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

The Islanders evened this best-of-seven series at one win apiece on Saturday evening, as DiPietro returned from a three-week absence to anchor New York to an exciting 3-2 victory in Buffalo.

DiPietro stopped 32 shots in Game 2, his first outing since March 25, and appeared to be past the post-concussion syndrome that kept him sidelined for these last few weeks. He was cleared to play by doctors after New York's loss in the opener of this set, but was still a game-time decision on Saturday.

The 25-year-old DiPietro made several big saves throughout the game and helped the eighth-seeded Islanders bounce back from the 4-1 loss in Game 1. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2000 draft also gave his team a chance to take control of this series, as it shifts to Long Island for Games 3 and 4.

Marc-Andre Bergeron scored the go-ahead goal for the Islanders on Saturday and Trent Hunter and Bruno Gervais also lit the lamp. Tom Poti added two assists.

Dmitri Kalinin and Toni Lydman each had a goal for the Sabres, who went 0- for-5 on the power play. Ryan Miller made 29 saves in the loss.

This is the first time these teams have faced each other in the playoffs since 1980, when the Isles defeated Buffalo in five games during the Stanley Cup semifinals. New York went on to win its first of four straight Stanley Cup titles that year.

The Islanders are 3-0 all-time in playoff series against Buffalo and 13-5 in the 18 postseason contests between the clubs.

New York was decent on home ice during the regular season, going 22-13-6 in Uniondale.

The Sabres, meanwhile, were 25-12-4 as the visiting club and were only behind San Jose in road wins during the regular season.

Game 4 of this series is slated for Wednesday evening at the Coliseum.