The Buffalo Sabres returned home Wednesday night to host the Ottawa Senators after a successful West Coast trip that included three straight wins in California.
The night featured fresh uniforms for Buffalo as the Sabres debuted their new remix jerseys.
Sabres goalie Colten Ellis got the start in net and wasted no time making a big-time highlight play. Less than two minutes in, the save of the game, Ellis robbed Senators forward Michael Amadio on a back-door one-timer, stretching out his pad to make the save.
The first period ended scoreless with shots favoring the Senators 12-10.
In the second period, with 6 minutes to go, Peyton Krebs scored his first goal of the season after dropping the puck back to Tage Thompson, who ripped a snapshot that Krebs deflected, finding its way past Senators goalie Samuel Ersson, giving Buffalo the 1-0 lead.
In the final three minutes of the second period, Ellis continued to show Sabres fans why he's seen an increase in playing time as he made a couple of clutch saves on the penalty kill, keeping the score at 1-0 Buffalo.
After two periods, the Sens outshot the Sabres 21-18.
In the third period, with 8:27 to go, Buffalo's defense let Ellis out to dry as Shane Pinto banged in a rebound for Ottawa, tying the game at 1.
Ottawa would add on to their lead late with a beautiful tic-tac-toe one-timer. Ellis had no chance as Michael Amadio was in a similar position as he was in the first period, back door, but this time he lifted it over Ellis. Tim Stuzle and Fabian Zetterlund were credited with the assists on the goal.
That final would hold up as Buffalo dropped to 7-5-3 on the season with the 2-1 loss to Ottawa.
After the game, Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff expressed disappointment in his team.
"We weren't good enough. Got outworked. They won more puck battles. They created more odd-numbered situations. They were smarter than us," said Ruff.
Ruff added that it's frustrating that the team wasn't able to bail out Ellis, who looked great throughout the game and made 28 saves in the loss.
"He gave us a great performance." Ruff said, "I mean, we gave him a point-blank opportunity nine seconds into the game. Then he followed that up with a backdoor, unbelievable save he made." Ruff said.
Krebs shared similar praise for Ellis's performance in net.
"He was unbelievable today. Made some massive saves at the right times." Krebs added, "He was ready to go. We got to score for him. That's the biggest thing. He makes those saves; we've got to go back and score."
Ellis said it's time to move on and look ahead.
"I think there's obviously some things that we need to work on all around, but yeah, I think you just got to look at the video and kind of break it down and then move on, and that's it," said Ellis.
Next up for Buffalo is a home matchup against Columbus on Friday night.
Other notes:
Buffalo is 1-4 in their last 5 home games.
Sabres forward Sam Carrick registered his 400th career game on Wednesday night.
The next chance to see the Hometown Remix jerseys will be Wednesday, November 25th, when the Sabres host the New York Rangers.
