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Sabres “Hometown” Woes Continue With Loss To Senators
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- Sabres “Hometown” Woes Continue With Loss To Senators
The Buffalo Sabres seemed to find their stride on their four-game road trip, earning seven of a possible eight points with an overtime loss to Washington and three victories over San Jose, Anaheim, and Los Angeles, but that success did not translate in the opening of their four-game homestand against the Ottawa Senators.
The Sabres looked sharp wearing their new "Hometown Remix" jerseys, but did not play as they appeared, managing only 25 shots on Senators backup Samuel Ersson and one goal on a Peyton Krebs deflection of a Tage Thompson late in the second period. Buffalo relied on a strong performance by goalie Colten Ellis, but defensive lapses led to Shane Pinto's tying goal and Michael Amadio's game-winner with 3:09 left.
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"I can sum it up this way: I thought we got outskated, I thought that we got outworked. We gave up six or seven odd-numbered rushes and the game-winning goal was an odd-numbered rush," Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said. "sure. " I thought we weren't skating well, some of the puck play wasn't very good. I'm not going to sit here and making excuses. We weren't good enough. (Ottawa) won more puck battles. They created more odd-numbered situations. They were smarter than us."
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The Sabres have earned points in seven of their eight games on the road (4-1-3) and are averaging 3.63 goals per game (8th in the NHL), but on home ice, where teams need to have success to make the playoffs, they are under .500 and are averaging 2.14 goals per game (27th in the NHL).
"We talked this morning about being better in this building. We won't better, and I think with three minutes left, we've taken a lot of pride in not giving up something like that when points mean big points, and you give up an odd-man rush again." Ruff said. "had "When we started getting a little bit going, it was more, net- front battles. You win a puck battle, you come off the wall, you're going to get some type of chance if you make the right play. I just feel that we didn't win enough battles."
The loss leaves the Sabres tied for the bottom spot in the Atlantic with 17 points and the second-worst goal differential in the Eastern Conference (-7), but the bigger concern is their lack of scoring. Tage Thompson (10 goals) and Jack Quinn (8 goals) account for 40% of the club's offense.
Other than Noah Ostlund, no one has tallied more than three goals, which brings into focus the failure of GM Jarmo Kekalainen to address the offensive gap created by the departures of Alex Tuch and Bowen Byram, and why the Sabres are reportedly on the hunt for scoring help.
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