Sabres meeting Senators at a good time
Buffalo hopes to end struggles in Ottawa
Published: December 15, 2009, 11:59 pm
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OTTAWA — One of these days, folks will stop bringing up the Buffalo Sabres' troubles with the Ottawa Senators. Of course, that day won't come until the Sabres stop having troubles.
They hope tonight is that day.
The Sabres will bring a list of hot streaks into Scotiabank Place. They have won four straight games. They've won eight of their last 10. They've won four straight on the road.
It seems like a good time to face their nemesis.
"I haven't found a good time to play Ottawa yet," coach Lindy Ruff said Tuesday. "It's just the way it's been."
The Sabres' numbers are impressive, for sure. But they are nothing like this oft-stated one: Since 2005-06, the Senators are 21-6-4 against Buffalo.
They are 12-3-1 at home, including a 5-3 victory last month.
"We have to find a way to play well in this building," Ruff said. "We haven't done well against them, and [tonight] would be a good time to do it. There's something about us coming here that hasn't been very good to us.
"I obviously know we struggle with them, but I feel going into every game that we're ready to play them. We have found so many different ways of losing that it's incredible."
Here are just a few nuggets from the series:
• The Sabres had a 1-0 second-period lead in the latest loss, then surrendered five straight goals.
• Ottawa scored 22 times against the Sabres last season, its most against any opponent, while allowing 14 goals in the six matchups.
• In March 2008, the Senators torched the Sabres for five goals in the final eight minutes to win, 6-3. It was just the third time in NHL history a team reached six goals despite scoring only once through 52 minutes.
• The Sabres are 0-3-1 in Canada's capital during the past two seasons and haven't won since a 3-2 shootout on March 27, 2008.
"We just have to get to them," Sabres center Derek Roy said. "We know what they like to do. We know everybody on their team. We have to just get into their heads and show them first shift that we're here to play and we're here to play hard."
It would be quite a turnaround for the Sabres to get into the heads of Ottawa players. Defenseman Jaroslav Spacek admitted last season the Senators were in the Sabres' heads.
He's gone, but nearly everyone else remains. It's up to the team leaders to evict the Northeast Division rivals from their skulls, forward Adam Mair said.
"The first thing is just to not get too wound up for the game, stay focused, stay loose," Mair said. "Understand it is a divisional game, but it's not different than the one we just played [in Montreal] or the one we're going to play Friday [when Toronto visits HSBC Arena].
"It's a case of attacking the game like we have been — period by period, shift by shift — and not letting any history, any statistics get in the way of our focus."
The Senators enter the game having suffered a potentially crippling loss. Center Jason Spezza injured his right knee during Monday's 3-2 defeat in Toronto. He was scheduled to have an MRI on Tuesday to fully determine the damage, but it was categorized as "fairly serious." He will miss at least a month, probably more.
Spezza has 47 points in 37 games against the Sabres.
"It means we're going to have to be more of a team than ever," said coach Cory Clouston, who was already without top goaltender Pascal Leclaire due to a broken cheekbone.
If the Sabres can capitalize, they might finally get rid of their broken record, the one that replays all their Ottawa heartbreaks.
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