Forsberg, Senators hand Sabres seventh straight loss

OTTAWA -- Anton Forsberg made 29 saves and the Ottawa Senators handed the Buffalo Sabres their seventh straight loss, 4-1 at Canadian Tire Centre on Wednesday.

"I wouldn't say I felt the best of all the games I've played so far," said Forsberg, who ended a personal five-game skid (0-4-1). "But it was a step in the right direction. I've had a few games where I felt really good and let in one or two shots] I should have had, which is tough sometimes. Tonight, it was a complete game for me and for the team, so it was nice."
[Tim Stutzle
had a goal and an assist, and Jake Sanderson had two assists for the Senators (6-9-1), who were 7-for-8 on the penalty kill.
"I don't think I've ever killed so many penalties in the first two periods of a game," Watson said. "But credit to our penalty killers, starting with [Forsberg], who made some awesome saves. Killing a couple off there early kind of gave us our mojo a little bit on the kill."

Tage Thompson scored for the Sabres (7-10-0), and Craig Anderson made 14 saves in his return to Ottawa.
Anderson holds the Senators record for wins (202) and made 422 starts from 2011-2020. He entered the game in relief of Eric Comrie, who made 22 saves before leaving in the second period after a collision with Ottawa forward Mathieu Joseph.
A lengthy standing ovation for Anderson followed a video tribute on the big screen in the first period. Chants of "Andy! Andy!" broke out when he entered the game.
"I just tried not to be emotional," Anderson said. "I spent a lot of time here, and seeing some of the memories, it was nice to kind of flash back. It's in the past; I definitely enjoyed it.
"A great part of my life, a great time in my life. I'm thankful for that. It was great to kind of relive the moment and kind of be remembered. It was nice."

Austin Watson gave the Senators a 1-0 lead with his 50th NHL goal at 9:45 of the first, a snap shot top left from the slot after his initial shot was blocked.
Thompson tied it 1-1 at 6:41 of the second when he one-timed a pass from Rasmus Dahlin into the top right corner on the power play. Thompson has eight points (five goals, three assists) during a six-game point streak.
Buffalo had six shots on the power play.
"I think we're gripping the stick too much," Dahlin said. "We have our chances, but we can't really execute right now. We need more swagger to our game. I don't know how many chances, but we had a ton today."
Ottawa jumped ahead 2-1 at 9:57 when Brady Tkachuk tapped in a Sanderson point shot that bounced off the boards right to him on the power play.
"The way Jake played tonight, that's a glimpse into the future of him playing against everyone's top lines," Senators coach D.J. Smith said of Sanderson. "With the game on the line, he's blocking shots. It's a heck of an effort."

Alex DeBrincat made it 3-1 at 14:21 of the third after one-timing a cross-slot pass from Joseph.
"Too many penalties," DeBrincat said. "It's hard to get a flow when we're always in the box or they're in the box, for that matter. It's hard to get that 5-on-5 consistency, but I thought we did a good job sticking with it. One-goal game going into the third period, and we did a good job and stuck with it the whole game, so it's a good win for us."
Stutzle scored an empty-net goal with 41 seconds left for the 4-1 final.
"We did have chances," Sabres coach Don Granato said. "Unfortunately, we didn't convert. That's anybody's guess why not. We had a couple posts and crossbars, but that's the way it goes.
"We're in a little bit of a frustrating time with a lack of success recently. We have a young team that's going to go through it. We have to keep pushing."
NOTES: Comrie will "be out a little bit," Granato said. He will be reevaluated Thursday. … Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons did not play in the third period due to an undisclosed injury and will be reevaluated. … Senators forward Claude Giroux's point streak ended at nine games. … Sanderson's nine assists are tied for the NHL lead among rookies with Arizona Coyotes forward Matias Maccelli.