(WGR 550) - The Sabres had plenty of great opportunities on Monday, putting 44 shots on Craig Anderson and 78 attempts at him, but they couldn't solve him in a 3-1 loss.
Linus Ullmark was also good in the Buffalo net, but he only had to see 29 shots.
Anderson came back from injury and was sharp early, stopping Victor Olofsson in front. As the period went on, Olofsson, Curtis Lazar, Zemgus Girgensons, Jeff Skinner and Jack Eichel all had good chances on Craig Anderson.
Eichel had the best chance, leading a 2-on-1 down the right side. He pulled the puck to the middle and ripped a shot, forcing Anderson into a huge save.
Not to be outdone, Connor Brown took advantage of a bouncing puck to walk in alone, but Ullmark stopped him.
Mistakes led to both Senators goals, leaving Ullmark with no chance. On the first one, Brady Tkachuk outbattled Jake McCabe in the corner and threw the puck to a wide-open Jean-Gabriel Pageau in front. The center wasted no time wiring a one-timer as the rest of the Sabres stood and watched.
On Pageau's second goal, Connor Brown easily beat Zach Bogosian wide and took the pack to the net. The rebound went to Pageau and he had a wide-open net. Bogosian only had one more shift in the final 14:44 after that. Overall, he played 10:53.
Evan Rodrigues played is best game since the Western Canada trip last season, but couldn't buy a goal. He thought he had an empty net, but Anderson sprawled across the ice and stopped the puck with his blocker. Rodrigues had six shots on goal, but hasn't scored in 30 games dating back to last season.
I thought he made a nice play from the wall, recognizing he had Girgensons going to the net. It's never a bad play to put the puck in traffic and Girgensons tapped home his sixth of the season. For Rodrigues, it was his first point in 12 games.
There was one huge negative in this game - many of Buffalo's chances wet wide of Anderson. Skinner played very well, but was guilty of that more than once.
Buffalo goes into the three-day Christmas break tied with Florida for fourth place in the Atlantic Division, three points behind Toronto, one back of Montreal and one point in front of Tampa Bay. The Sabres have lost four-of-five games, while the Leafs have won five in a row.
Since he was up on emergency recall, Lazar was sent back to Rochester after the game.
The Sabres come back from break to face Boston in a home-and-home series. The home game is Friday, while the road game is Sunday.
That's it from me. I hope you all have a safe holiday, and I'll be back with you Friday against the Bruins.
