Senators Close Out Another 0 for 5 Road Trip With 5-3 Loss in Buffalo

The Senators tried to rally from a 4-1 deficit with two third-period goals from Claude Giroux but the comeback attempt fell short in Buffalo.

For the second time in a month, the Ottawa Senators went 0 for five on a road trip. They finished this one with a 5-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night. Tage Thompson scored twice for the winners, while Rasmus Dahlin and Dylan Cozens chipped in with two points of their own.

To make matters worse for Ottawa, Sens goalie Anton Forsberg left the game in the first period. He did not return, falling to his knees in pain following a Sabres shot attempt. The Senators described the injury as a groin issue. It happened exactly eleven months after he suffered a season-ending MCL tear in both knees last year.

With the loss, the Senators' record drops to 14-23-0 on the season.

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Buffalo took the lead, thanks to JJ Peterka, at 9:14 of the first period. Just as the Sabres power play ended, Cozens easily skated the puck past Erik Brannstrom, then slid it over to Peterka, who buried it past a diving Forsberg to make it 1-0 Buffalo.

The Senators would tie the game at 15:06 of the first period when Vladimir Tarasenko's seeing-eye shot from the point beat a helpless Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Tarasenko's goal was his 600th career point.

Later in the first, Forsberg went down with an apparent groin injury and had to be helped off the ice. He was replaced by Joonas Korpisalo, who didn't last a minute before giving up the go-ahead goal.

Tage Thompson skated end-to-end with almost no resistance and threw a wrist shot from the slot that went over Korpisalo's blocker.

The Sabres doubled their lead to 3-1 on the power play at 19:32, as Thompson scored his second of the game with a wrist shot from the left circle that beat Korpisalo on the glove side.

The onslaught continued for Buffalo in the second period. Peyton Krebs extended the lead to 4-1 at 4:52 when he stole the puck off Jakob Chychrun, leading to a beautiful two-on-one with Eric Robinson and a give-and-go, which Krebs finished neatly behind a sprawling Korpisalo.

In the third period, the Senators pushed back.

Claude Giroux made it 4-2 just 43 seconds into the final frame. He picked up a stolen puck in front of the Sabres' net, sending a backhand on goal that surprised Luukkonen.

Giroux wasn't done, scoring again to drag the Senators to within one goal, 4-3, at 11:15 of the third. The play began when Brady Tkachuk forced a Sabres turnover that landed on the stick of Giroux, who immediately one-timed the puck past a flummoxed Luukkonen.

The Senators' comeback came up short, though, and Cozens sealed the game for Buffalo with an empty netter.

The Senators return home this Saturday against the San Jose Sharks, the NHL's last-place team, at 4 pm.