OTTAWA — It's nothing new for the Buffalo Sabres to leave Ottawa with a sick feeling in

their stomachs. This trip, they fell ill before departing, too.

Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said after Wednesday's 2-0 loss to the Senators that seven players

were suffering from food poisoning.

"I knew last night when we got the call at midnight and you've got seven guys with food

poisoning you don't have much chance of winning," Ruff said in Scotiabank Place. "I'm not

going to make an excuse, but we had guys this morning that couldn't come to the pregame,

couldn't come to the pregame meeting, and it showed. There were guys that typically skate a

lot better who couldn't skate."

The Senators usually handle a healthy Buffalo squad. They had little trouble with an ailing

team.

The Sabres had just 12 shots through the first two periods, with a one-timer by Clarke

MacArthur the only real test for goaltender Brian Elliott. He finished with 22 saves.

"Not real impressive on our part," Sabres goalie Ryan Miller said. "It's not going to be

our kind of game every night. We've got to work around what they give us. Ottawa played a

pretty solid game, but we could be better.

"We looked a little tired. It was brought to our attention that we needed to be better

after the first period. We got a little bit better, but I don't think we generated enough."

The loss would have been much worse if not for Miller. He allowed just one goal in the first

period despite being inundated with scoring chances. The Senators took 11 shots, and at least

seven were prime lamp-lighting opportunities.

"We came into this game a little late and played from behind the whole time," Sabres

defenseman Steve Montador said. "We relied on Ryan Miller too much. It could have been

different without him."

Miller's best stop came on a three-on-one. Ryan Shannon and Chris Campoli executed a

perfect give-and-go, with Shannon getting the return pass on the doorstep. His shot went

through Miller's pads, but the goaltender reached back with his stick, stopped the puck at the

goal line and pulled it into his body.

"I felt it hit me and figured it was going to be behind me," Miller said. "I got a little

lucky there, but I could feel what kind of happened. It hit mainly my knee and my pad, so I

knew it had stopped a little bit. Luckily, it got to that side of the net and I was kind of

reaching."

As loose as the Sabres were playing, their luck was bound to run out. It finally did with

1:37 left in the first. Defenseman Alexandre Picard took a shot from the top of the circle

that flew past Andrej Sekera and Jonathan Cheechoo crowding the top of the crease.

The Sabres couldn't get the equalizer despite six power plays. Mike Fisher put them away by

scoring with 1:36 left in the Sabres' house of horrors. The Senators improved to 22-6-4

against the Sabres since 2005-06, including 13-3-1 at home.

The Sabres again had a winning streak halted at four, a number they can't get past. It was

the fourth time this season they failed to reach five. They haven't won five in a row since a

six-game run in December 2007.

The Sabres returned to Buffalo following the game for back-to-back contests in HSBC Arena.

They host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday. The defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh

Penguins come to town Saturday.

"I'm sure everybody is as frustrated as I am with the loss," said Miller, named the first

star with 26 saves. "I hope the guys realize it's only going to get tougher. This is probably

going to be easy in comparison to a lot of other nights."

The Sabres lost forward Patrick Kaleta just 29 seconds into the second period. He got the

puck along the boards, and Jarkko Ruutu came from behind to drive his shoulder into Kaleta's

head, which then bounced off the glass.

The forward, who had three goals in the previous two games, stayed on the ice until

athletic trainer Tim Macre and teammate Jason Pominville escorted him toward the dressing

room.

Ruutu, whose body of work includes biting former Sabres enforcer Andrew Peters last season,

was given a five-minute boarding penalty. Kaleta did not return.

Said Ruff: "He isn't very good."