Sabres at Senators
Mike Condon made quite a first impression on his new team, and in the process gave himself quite an act to follow when the Ottawa Senators host the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. Condon had a memorable debut with Ottawa on Thursday, registering his second career shutout in a 1-0 win over Vancouver.
With starting netminder Craig Anderson taking another leave of absence to be with his wife, who is battling cancer, the Senators swung a deal with Pittsburgh to acquire Condon on Wednesay and gave him the start the following day. "Coming in yesterday and then playing today I'm guessing wasn't the easiest scenario for him, but he came in and played a heck of a game," Ottawa's Mike Hoffman told reporters. While the Senators have won three in a row, Buffalo was denied a fourth consecutive victory as it suffered a 2-1 loss to Toronto on Thursday. While their offense continues to struggle, the Sabres have allowed a total of four goals during their 3-1-0 stretch.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG (Buffalo), CITY, Sportsnet, Sportsnet360 (Ottawa)
ABOUT THE SABRES (4-4-2): Despite producing only one goal, Buffalo had plenty of scoring chances against Toronto as it registered 43 shots - including nine from the line of Marcus Foligno Johan Larsson and Brian Gionta. Foligno was a presence at both ends of the ice, scoring the only goal while blocking a pair of shots. "That’s the way we have to play every night," Foligno told reporters. "It’s fun to play with those guys every night. We work hard. We shut down top lines. Just have to keep playing like that and we expect more from ourselves."
ABOUT THE SENATORS (7-3-0): Hoffman, a 29-goal scorer last season, netted the lone tally in the victory over Vancouver - his second in three games after failing to score in the first seven. Condon, who had seen only one period of mop-up duty this season prior to Thursday's outing, became the first Ottawa goaltender to post a shutout in his debut since Anderson in February 2011. "I think our goalie coach (Pierre Groulx) did a great job of scouting him," Senators coach Guy Boucher told reporters. "He said he's very calm."
OVERTIME
1. Ottawa is 5-1-0 at home while Buffalo is 3-1-2 on the road.
2. Sabres G Robin Lehner is 1-0-1 with a 1.57 goals-against average in three starts versus Ottawa.
3. Senators RW Mark Stone (neck) missed Thursday's game, but Boucher is hopeful he will return to the lineup Saturday.