Two goals allowed in the third period were the difference as the Buffalo Sabres fell 2-1 to the Ottawa Senators at KeyBank Center on Wednesday.
Buffalo goalie Colten Ellis kept Ottawa off the scoreboard for two-and-a-half periods, but Shane Pinto and Michael Amadio scored in the final frame to end the Sabres’ three-game winning streak.
More than half of the game elapsed before either team broke the ice. In the end, Buffalo used a Peyton Krebs goal to take a 1-0 lead with 6:00 to go in the second period. A skillful play by Zach Benson settled an airborne puck before it was swung back to the point for Tage Thompson, whose wrister was tipped in by Krebs for his first of the season.
The real star of the show for the first two periods was Ellis, who made 23 saves through the first 40 minutes to keep Ottawa off the board. He made a handful of highlight-reel stops, including a right pad stretch to rob Michael Amadio less than two minutes into the game and a sprawling play on a Senators power play later in the second period.
Ottawa found the equalizer midway through the third period, when Pinto backhanded a rebound off Ellis’ pads at 11:33. The game-tying goal came just after an unsuccessful Buffalo power play, the second of two man-advantage attempts the Sabres couldn’t convert on in the final frame.
Amadio potted the game winner for the Senators with just 3:09 left in regulation. Buffalo pulled Ellis for the extra attacker with less than two minutes remaining but couldn’t beat Ottawa goalie Samuel Ersson despite hemming the Senators in their zone.
Ersson earned the win with 24 saves, while Ellis finished the night with 28 stops in the loss. Both teams went 0-for-2 on the power play.
