After a very successful road trip, it was sort of expected that the Senators would falter somehwere. It's too bad that it had to be against the Buffalo Sabres, a team which the Senators have manhandled in years past.



It wasn't for lack of trying. Four goals is usually enough to secure the W for the defensively minded Senators. It's just that the defense looked very porous against the Sabres. The Sens still looked tired and lacked that "oomph" that served them so well. The shutdown pair of Brian Lee and Chris Phillips weren't up to snuff and were both -3 on the game. But the Senators were on their heels for most of the second half of the game.

The Sabres also made "Neo" Anderson look all too human on a few goals, although two of the Buffalo goals seemed laser guided. Tyler Ennis was first with a wrist shot that beat Anderson over the left shoulder. Ennis had maybe 6" square to shoot in. Then Nathan Gerbe wired in a slap shot to the top right corner of the net that was eerie as it was so reminescent of the types of goals scored by Richard Martin who had passed away a little earlier in the day.

A key player once again, Jason Spezza continues to impress the hell out of me with his play. He once again successfully banked a shot from behind the net for a goal, a trick he pulls all too often on Buffalo and on Pittsburgh.Spezz was also part of all the Sens scoring, netting two goals and assisting on Erik Karlsson's and Colin Greening's goals.

The Sens finally come back home to face the Penguins on Tuesday.

Neo's numbers


GO SENS GO!!