Before he retired last season, goalie Craig Anderson was the oldest player in the NHL. He spent much of his time with the two teams who clashed on Tuesday night in Ottawa – the Buffalo Sabres and the Senators. Ironically, on a night that honoured the veteran goalie, the game was anything but one of those close, tightly-played, well-goalied games. Instead, both teams’ offenses were front and center in a high-scoring contest where goals came fast and furiously.
The two teams that Anderson once played for put on an offensive display. The result was a 6-4 Sabres win over the Senators.
Anderson holds the Senators’ franchise record with 202 wins – he signed a one-day contract to close out his career with the team.
Jeff Skinner and Tage Thompson each scored twice for the Sabres. Anderson, who now serves as a hockey liaison for the Sabres, watched his new team take a commanding 5-1 lead. Then, suddenly, the game became tense and the Sabres desperately held on for the win. Given his history, I imagine Anderson might have been conflicted about who to root for last night.
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In the end, the Sabres endured a late-game push by the Senators who narrowed the score to 5-4 with just 35 seconds left on the clock. However, Thompson’s empty-netter stopped the bleeding. In addition to Skinner and Thompson’s goals, the Sabres’ offense got scoring help from Zemgus Girgensons and Alex Tuch.
Item One: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen Gave Up Four Goals, But Was Good
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made his season debut on Tuesday. Although he gave up four goals, he still had a strong game. The Sabres’ late-game struggles were not on him. His team’s defense simply collapsed.
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Funny game. On the night, Luukkonen made 34 saves and held a comfortable 5-1 lead until the game’s final minutes. It became a little less comfortable when, with just over four minutes left in the third period, the Sabres’ meltdown left their goaltender scrambling.
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In a quick three and a half minutes, the Senators potted three goals. With Ottawa on a power play and pressing in the dying minute, Thompson scored a shorthanded goal into the empty net. The game was that close.
Item Two: Jeff Skinner Is on a Nice Little Scoring Streak
Skinner is on a nice little hot streak. In the first period, he opened the scoring by converting a cross-ice pass from Tuch on a two-on-one to beat Senators’ goalie Anton Forsberg. Early in the second, he banked a shot off Forsberg’s skate from behind the goal line.
In Skinner’s recent goal-scoring streak, which now spans three games with a total of four goals, he’s put up five points. In his past five games, Skinner has scored five times.
Item Three: Tage Thompson Is Emerging from a Slow Start
Thompson registered his first multiple-goal (and multiple-point) game of the season. His first goal came late in the second period when he redirected an Owen Power shot into the net. It was the eventual game-winner.
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However, Thompson’s second goal was the one that allowed Sabres fans to exhale.
After a breakout 94-point season in 2022-23, Thompson’s slow start is surprising. That said, last night’s game gives fans a sense that he might finally be emerging from this funk. If he can get going, he can help lift his team out of the Atlantic Division basement, where they sit with a 3-4-0 (.429) record.
What’s Next for the Sabres?
The Sabres’ struggles have sunk them to the bottom of their division. They need to string together a few wins to lift themselves back into contention. They get their next chance on Friday night on the road against the New Jersey Devils.
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Which goalie will start is the big question for the Sabres. Rookie Devon Levi, when healthy, seems to be the coaching staff’s consensus. Yet, both Eric Comrie and Luukkonen have played well enough in recent games. I have no idea which of the team’s three goalies head coach Don Granato will go with on Friday. I’m guessing Luukkonen.