Sabres miss out on chance to clinch with 4-1 loss to Ottawa

Ottawa, ON (WGR Sports Radio 550/WBEN) - The little X next to their name in the standings will have to wait for another day for the Buffalo Sabres as they fall 4-1 Thursday night in Ottawa. The Senators scored early in the third to take the lead and then capped off the win with two empty net goals late in regulation. Buffalo will have another chance to clinch a playoff spot against the Washington Capitals Saturday night.

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The penalty kill was on display in the first period for both teams as Buffalo would kill off an early holding penalty by Zach Benson just 3:39 into the game. Then midway through the period, Ottawa took back to back penalties in succession, but the Sabres could not break the ice on their two power plays.

Later in the period, Brady Tkachuk checked Logan Stanley in the corner and the two would drop the gloves. Both players went off five minutes for fighting in the final minutes of the first period.

It would be midway through the second period before we saw the game's first goal and it was Mattias Samuelsson scoring through traffic to give Buffalo the 1-0 lead.

The Senators got on the board later in the second with a turnover at the blue line and Brady Thachuk found Dylan Cozens in front for a deflection past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to tie the game 1-1.

Ottawa took the 2-1 lead 5:55 into the third period as Lars Eller redirected a shot from the point by Artem Zub.

The score would remain the same till late in the third. With Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen just getting to the bench, the Senators got out to the neutral zone off a clear and Ridly Greig skated in alone to put in the empty net goal.

In desperation mode, the Sabres pulled Luukkonen once again in the final moments, and Ottawa finished off the night with Shane Pinto hitting another empty net goal to seal the 4-1 victory.

It was a low chance game for both teams for most of the game. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 20 of 22 shots in his third straight start for the Sabres, while Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark made 21 saves in the win.

With the loss and the Tampa Bay win over Pittsburgh, Buffalo drops back to second place in the tight Atlantic Division race. Montreal is now just two points behind in third place with a game in hand, riding a seven game win streak.

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GAME RECAP

Scoring Summary:

First Period:

BUF: NONE

OTT: NONE

Second Period:

BUF: 8:49 - Mattias Samuelsson (13) (Bowen Byram, Peyton Krebs)

OTT: 15:18 - Dylan Cozens (26) (Brady Tkachuk, Ridly Greig)

Third Period:

BUF: NONE

OTT: 5:55 - Lars Eller (5) (Artem Zub, Warren Foegele) 17:42 - Ridly Greig (12)(ENG) (Jordan Spence), 18:42 - Shane Pinto (20)(ENG) (Unassisted)

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STATS OF THE GAME:

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Blue Star Home Services Three Stars of the Game:

1.) Dylan Cozens (OTT)

2.) Jordan Spence (OTT)

3.) Linus Ullmark (OTT)

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What's next: The Sabres stay on the road as they head to Washington D.C. to take on the Capitals Saturday night for a 7:00 p.m. ET puck drop. Catch all of the action on WGR Sports Radio 550 starting with the pregame at 6:00 p.m. ET with Brian Koziol.