Sabres fall to Senators in first attempt to clinch playoff spot: ‘We weren’t good enough’

OTTAWA – Barring a collapse of epic proportions, in the near future, the Buffalo Sabres will secure their first berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 15 years, and Thursday’s 4-1 loss to the Senators will become an afterthought.

That they failed in their first attempt to clinch, losing to a desperate and depleted Senators team before the crowd of 17,086 fans in the Canadian Tire Centre, certainly stings a bit.

In their biggest game in 15 years, the Sabres couldn’t exploit a blue line ravaged by injuries, generating little as their opponent consistently outworked them.

“I thought they were better than us, simple as that,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “Their compete was better, they won more battles.”

With the contest tied at 1 following the second period and the Sabres potentially 20 minutes away from ending their NHL-record postseason drought, Ruff stressed they must win more battles.

“Didn’t feel like we were coming out of the corners with any pucks and a lot of the wall battles were going their way,” he said.

Nothing changed in the third period. Lars Eller scored at 5:55, redirecting Artem Zub’s point shot past goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to give the Senators their first lead.

Ridly Greig and Shane Pinto added empty-net goals.

Greig scored a breakaway goal after the Sabres dumped the puck in the Ottawa zone and couldn’t corral it. Pinto scored alone in front, cementing a win that moved the Senators into the second wild card spot.

“We have four guys in the corner, they have one and they’re gonna come out and score an empty-net goal,” Ruff said. “… We weren’t good enough to win the game.”

While the NHL hasn’t announced any new clinching scenarios, it appears if the Sabres beat the Capitals on Saturday in Washington, they will secure their spot in the postseason.

The Sabres, having earned 100 points, rank second in the Atlantic Division.

“We have gotten ourselves in a really good spot, and we don’t want to kind of start sliding from it right now,” Luukkonen said.

Winger Jason Zucker said the Sabres must “have urgency without panic.”

On Thursday, the Sabres showcased little urgency. The Senators, who began the night down five defensemen, most notably Thomas Chabot and Jake Sanderson, lost Tyler Klevlen early in the first period.

“That’s all we talked about, was they were down to five and we didn’t stress them out enough,” Ruff said. “I just felt (we) didn’t generate enough high-quality opportunities, and the game was sitting there and they took it over.”

Still, defenseman Mattias Samuelsson put the Sabres up 1-0 8:49 into the second period, scoring his 13th goal this season.

Old friend Dylan Cozens knotted the game at 15:18, redirecting a shot past Luukkonen.

The Sabres mustered just 22 shots on goalie Linus Ullmark, who stymied defenseman Bowen Byram’s blast from the slot in the waning seconds of the second period.

“You have to give them credit,” Zucker said. “I think they played a good game. I don’t think we stressed them enough. I don’t think we did our part. I don’t think we skated well enough. I don’t think we put them in positions to have to defend us shift after shift.”

Over the final two weeks of the regular season, as the Sabres face more teams playing for their playoff lives, they an expect to play more games like Thursday’s.

“For them, every point matters with how tight it is for those wild card spots,” Samuelsson said. “Every game is going to be like this and if we want to be able to do anything in postseason, we’re going to have to find ways to win different ways.”

The Sabres must find ways to win without the benefit of many power plays. Officials, of course, often put their whistles away late in the season. Thursday’s game featured just four power plays. Nothing was called in the third period, including some blatant infractions.

The officiating clearly frustrated the Sabres. Center Josh Norris received a late 10-minute misconduct for abuse of officials.