Senators at Sabres
The Ottawa Senators ended a four-game slide last time out by taking the initiative early on and look to sweep a home-and-home set when they visit the Atlantic Division-rival Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon. The Senators had allowed 19 goals while going 0-3-1 in the previous four before taking a 3-0 lead into the third period and holding on for a 4-2 victory over Buffalo on Thursday.
“I thought our first two periods were terrific,” Ottawa coach Guy Boucher told reporters after Thursday’s win. “We wanted to get our work ethic, our speed, and that’s exactly what we did. … We know it’s tough for us to sustain what we did for two periods for three. There’s a confidence issue there, an experience issue there.” The Senators are 1-3-1 on the road in the early going while the Sabres are winless in their last three (0-1-2) overall. Buffalo, which had its best October since 2011, battled back within a goal in the third period with 23 shots on net before Bobby Ryan’s empty-net goal sealed the contest in the final minute. “We turned it on and showed what kind of team we are,” Sabres goalie Carter Hutton told reporters. “It’s a little too late but it’s something we can definitely build on and build off of. … It’s a good lesson for our group to know that we’ve got to show up on time every night for the full 60.”
TV: 2 p.m. ET, RDS, TSN5 (Ottawa), MSG Buffalo
ABOUT THE SENATORS (5-5-2): Ottawa has been pretty good with the man advantage at 25 percent - tied for 10th in the league through Thursday - but has struggled by allowing at least one power-play tally in seven straight games and sitting 29th at 69 percent. Defenseman Thomas Chabot continues to lead the team in points with 15 and center Matt Duchene is next with 12 while Ryan Dzingel has three goals in his past four games. Craig Anderson turned aside 46 shots Thursday and is now backed up by Mike McKenna, after Mike Condon was waived earlier in the week and sent to Belleville of the American Hockey League.
ABOUT THE SABRES (6-5-2): Captain Jack Eichel owns five of his team-most 14 points during a three-game streak and is one ahead of Jeff Skinner, who tops the team with seven goals after scoring Thursday. Veteran right wing Jason Pominville scored in his 1,000th NHL game Thursday and boasts five goals to go along with five assists while posting at least one point in six straight contests. Buffalo gave up two power-play tallies Thursday after killing off all 12 opportunities in the previous four games and is 6-for-19 with the man advantage over the past five contests to bump their season percentage to 20.4 - 17th in the league entering Friday.
OVERTIME
1. Buffalo F Conor Sheary had three power-play goals in the first five games of the season, but has not scored in the last eight contests.
2. Ottawa F Alex Formenton, who scored his first NHL goal Tuesday in Arizona, was sent back to juniors after the win over Buffalo.
3. The Senators have won three of the last four meetings after dropping four in a row to the Sabres.