Early lead slips away in loss to Senators

OTTAWA -Marcus Johansson drew a hooking call midway through the first period Tuesday night, and it seemed the Buffalo Sabres were in position to tighten their grip on their game against the Ottawa Senators. The Sabres already led, 2-0, on the strength of a pair of goals from Brandon Montour.
Instead, the power play served as a launching pad for the Senators.

Vladislav Namestnikov got in alone on Carter Hutton and scored Ottawa's league-leading 13th shorthanded goal with three seconds remaining on the penalty, setting off a string of four goals in 3:29 that sent the Senators into the first intermission with a 4-2 lead.
The Sabres twice cut the deficit to one goal but never fully recovered in a 7-4 loss.
"We were doing the things we thought we needed to do to play well against Ottawa and that power play, from the get-go, just didn't have the work ethic that we need," Sabres coach Ralph Krueger said. "We know that Ottawa's the best shorthanded scoring team in the league. We had awareness of that. They had two scoring chances on that power play. Very disappointing."

The loss snaps a three-game winning streak for the Sabres, who had a chance to move within six points of third place in the Atlantic Division with Toronto's loss in Pittsburgh.
The Senators fed off the momentum of Namestnikov's goal, tying the game on a shot from in tight by Artem Anisimov less than two minutes later. Drake Batherson got in behind the Sabres defense and buried his own rebound on the very next shift, then Anisimov added a second goal on a power play.
"We just lost everything that we had built during the first 10 minutes," Krueger said. "We broke down in the D-zone like we haven't been lately. We stood and watched a team that went hungry on their toes and felt the opportunity and they used it."
Both times the Sabres cut the deficit to one, on goals from Kyle Okposo and Victor Olofsson, the Senators restored their two-goal cushion on goals from Jean-Gabriel Pageau. The Senators forward concluded his season series agains the Sabres with five goals in four contests.
Buffalo's biggest push came trailing 5-4 at the start of the third period, but Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson shut the door. Anthony Duclair put the finishing touches on the victory with an empty-net goal in the final minute.
The Sabres have three days between games, then play a back-to-back set that begins Saturday in Pittsburgh and concludes Sunday at home against Winnipeg.
"I think everybody's got to realize where we're at," Montour said. "We let another one slip away. After the bye week there, we've let a number of games slip away and those are big points. Hopefully everybody in this room realizes we let another one go there and we've got to get back to work tomorrow."
"We've got to win games," added Okposo. "That's it. That's the bottom line. We have to trust the way that we play is going to produce the results and we just fell asleep for a little bit, and it that cost us. We can't have that. we can't have those mental errors right now."

Montour's 3-point night

The defenseman tallied two goals and an assist for his first three-point outing since Dec. 12, 2018, when he tallied four points with Anaheim in a win over Dallas.
Montour opened the scoring 2:14 into the contest, pouncing on a loose puck in the crease after Jeff Skinner forced a turnover behind the Ottawa net, got a shot on Anderson, and hit his own rebound out of midair. The puck bounced off the leg of Senators forward Scott Sabourin and onto Montour's stick.

Sam Reinhart initiated the play that led to Montour's second goal, forcing a turnover along the right-side boards and then cutting to the net as the defenseman shot from the point.

Montour also blocked a shot that led to the 2-on-1 rush on which Okposo scored in the second period. With the Sabres trailing 5-4 in the third, he used his stick to prevent a wrap-around goal for Chris Tierney.
"Brandon had a good game today," Krueger said. "Those two goals were outstanding. He's just been a really good D-man for us. He feels so comfortable right now defensively, the pressure he puts on the puck and he's using his amazing skating skills. To see him add some offense tonight, we're happy. That is one positive we'll take out of this game."

Dahlin passes Bourque

Rasmus Dahlin earned the primary assist on Olofsson's power-play goal, extending his point-streak to five games. It was the 80th point of his career, surpassing Ray Bourque for sole possession of second place all-time among teenage defensemen. Phil Housley holds the record with 132.

Up next

The Sabres visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday afternoon. Coverage on MSG begins at 12:30 p.m., or you can listen to the game on WGR 550. Puck drop is scheduled for 1.