Main storyline: The Buffalo Sabres (19-40-5) continue its road trip following a 3-0 loss on Tuesday to the Tampa Bay Lightning. On Friday, Buffalo is in Canada’s capitol to face the Ottawa Senators (28-23-11) at the Canadian Tire Centre.
Season series: Friday is the fourth and final meeting between the two teams, with the Sabres having a 1-2-0 record against the Senators. The most recent matchup came back on February 10 in Buffalo where Milan Michalek’s late third period goal gave the Senators a 2-1 victory. Buffalo’s only win against Ottawa this year came on December 15 when Matt Moulson scored the only goal in the shootout to give the Sabres a 5-4 win.
Where they stand: The Sabres are still the basement dwellers in the league sitting in 30th place with 43 points. The Edmonton Oilers are in 29th place with 46 points, and the Arizona Coyotes are in 28th place with 49 points. Arizona beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 in a shootout on Thursday, while the Oilers are in Chicago to play the Blackhawks on Friday. For Ottawa, they have made a surprising push for the final wild card spot in the East, and only sit five points behind the Boston Bruins for the final spot.
Recent performance: The Sabres were in Tampa for its first game since the NHL Trade Deadline on Tuesday to play the Lightning. The game remained scoreless until Steven Stamkos opened the scoring late in the first, The Lightning would get powerplay goals from Ryan Callahan and Victor Hedman in the second, while Andrei Vasilevsky stopped all 28 shots that came his way to preserve his first career NHL shutout. For the Senators, the team was in Winnipeg to play the Jets on Wednesday night. Ottawa got an early first period goal from Kyle Turris, and two goals from Bobby Ryan and Erik Condra in the second. Andrew Hammond made 35 saves on 36 shots faced and helped give the Senators a 3-1 win.
Buffalo notes: The Sabres struggled on Tuesday with its new lineup of players following the trade deadline. Anders Lindback made his first start as a Sabre on Tuesday stopping 32 of 35 shots faced, but it was not good enough to help the Sabres. Another player making his debut with the Sabres was Jerry D’Amigo. D’Amigo was acquired by the Sabres in the trade which sent Luke Adam to the Blue Jackets in December. In his first game as a Sabres, D’Amigo had one blocked shot and was a minus-1 in 10:36 of total ice-time. On Friday, another player will make his debut with the Sabres, as Chad Johnson will make his first start with Buffalo since being acquired from the New York Islanders on Monday. Johnson has had a rough year on Long Island going 8-8-1 with a 3.08 goals-against-average and a .889 save-percentage. Another player that returns to the Sabres lineup is forward Mikhail Grigorenko. Grigorenko was recalled from Rochester on Thursday, and will play on a line with Marcus Foligno and Brian Gionta against Ottawa. Zac Dalpe has left the team due to family matters, and may not return in time for Saturday’s game in Washington.
Ottawa notes: The Senators have been on a roll over the past 10 games going 7-1-2 over that span. One player who has been a huge contribution to the team’s success in the 10 games is goaltender Andrew Hammond. Hammond, otherwise known as the “Hamburglar,” has been excellent for the Senators over the past seven games going 6-0-1 with a 1.35 goals-against-average, a .957 save-percentage, and two shutouts. Hammond has given the Senators a stable backbone in net with the injuries to Robin Lehner and Craig Anderson. Anderson is healthy and ready to return, but Ottawa will ride the “hot hand” in Hammond once again on Friday against the Sabres.
Conclusion: Buffalo looks to get back in the win column against the Senators on Friday, while Ottawa looks to continue its push to the playoffs. Face-off is scheduled for shortly after 7:30pm, and the game can be seen on MSG Network.