Power play lets Senators down in loss to Sabres
Published
After appearing to boost their offence with off-season additions, the Ottawa Senators went 0-for-4 on the power play in Thursday`s season-opening loss to the Buffalo Sabres.
Brady Tkachuk scored the lone goal for Ottawa in the 4-1 loss, while star additions Alex DeBrincat and Claude Giroux were held off the score sheet in their first game with the team.
“We got to score on the power play, which has been real good for us but tonight wasn’t,” Senators coach D.J. Smith said after the loss. “Execution. I think the guys wanted it too much probably and just were squeezing maybe. Didn’t go in the net. But there was plenty of chances there, just doesn’t go in.”
The two teams finished tied with 36 shots each in the game and Senators also held Buffalo's power play at bay, with the Sabres also finishing 0-for-4.
Senators forward Drake Batherson pointed to a total of five penalties being called in the second period as a reason Ottawa stalled in the loss.
"I thought we had good momentum going into the second," Batherson told NHL.com. "And there was just power play, penalty kill, power play, penalty kill, didn't have much 5-on-5 and sometimes that affects the legs."
Buffalo took the lead in the first ten minutes of the second period, with JJ Peterka and Rasmus Dahlin scoring less than three minutes apart to put the Sabres up 2-1. Victor Olofsson scored two empty-net goals in the final minute of the game to secure the victory.
"I thought we had a weak probably three minutes there in the second period where they got a couple on us," Smith added. "We had plenty of chances, we had breakaways, we had 2-on-0, 2-on-1s, and we just didn't put it in the back of the net tonight."
The Senators will be back on the ice Saturday when they face the Maple Leafs in Toronto.