A big loss for the Ottawa Senators

The Sens looked flatter than Saskatchewan against the Buffalo Sabres at the Canadian Tire Centre Tuesday.

Author

Jeff Morris
02 Apr

In baseball, if you strike out four times in a game, it’s known as a golden sombrero.

We aren’t sure what hockey’s version of the golden sombrero would be called, but whatever it is, hang it on the Ottawa Senators.

The Sens looked flatter than Saskatchewan against the Buffalo Sabres at the Canadian Tire Centre Tuesday. The result was a frustrating-to-watch 5-2 Buffalo win.

The Sens lost all four games against the Sabres this season. The Sabres are in last place in both the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference. Only one of the four games was close. Buffalo outscored Ottawa 17-5 in their four meetings.

The Senators dominated play in the first but could not solve Sens-killer James Reimer, who made 33 saves and was the game’s first star.

Buffalo scored twice in the first and then had a 3-0 lead before the Sens scored to wake up the crowd. The Sens never got closer than two goals away from the Sabres, as they trailed 3-1 and 4-2.

Claude Giroux and Jake Sanderson scored for Ottawa. Alex Touch, Ryan MacLeod, Tage Thompson, Peyton Krebs and Rasmus Dahlin scored Buffalo goals.

Lead shrinks: With Ottawa losing again and the Montreal Canadiens posting another win over the Florida Panthers, the Habs are now only five points behind the Sens for the first wildcard spot. Florida has dropped to third place in the Atlantic Division behind Toronto and Tampa Bay, but only two points separate the three teams.

  • Tough games this weekend: The Sens are at home for three games in four days this weekend, beginning with a Thursday night tilt against the Tampa Bay Lighting before a busy weekend with home games against the Florida Panthers Saturday at 2 p.m. and the Columbus Blue Jackets Sunday at 5 p.m.

Ouch!: Brady Tkachuk was out of the line-up Tuesday night, though his upper body injury is a different ailment than the hip that has been bothering him since the Four Nations Face-Off nearly two months ago.

Tkachuk suffered the injury in a second period collision in the Sens’ game in Pittsburgh Sunday.