Ottawa Senators struggles with lowly Buffalo Sabres continue

Ottawa Senators centre Tim Stützle is hooked by Buffalo Sabres defenceman Bowen Byram in Buffalo, N.Y. Tuesday night. Jeffrey T. Barnes/The Associated PressArticle content

SABRES 3, SENATORS 2

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The Ottawa Senators let a pivotal two points slip away on Tuesday night.

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The Senators’ season-long troubles with the lowly Buffalo Sabres continued as Ottawa’s record fell to 0-3-0 this season with a 3-2 loss to start the two-game Father’s Trip at the KeyBank Center.

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Only veteran winger David Perron and captain Brady Tkachuk could score for the Senators as the club dropped its third in four games after a sub-par performance from backup goalie Anton Forsberg.

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“Sh-tty feeling, especially at this time of year, losing like that,” Tkachuk told TSN 1200’s Gord Wilson. “Yep, sh-tty.”

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The Sabres will miss the playoffs for the 14th straight year, and Ottawa’s inability to beat Buffalo has to be one of the great mysteries of what’s been a great season for the Senators.

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“We’ve just got to find a way,” Tkachuk added. “We play them one more time next week, and it’s a big one. We’ve got to find a way to bear down on every puck battle and do what it takes to win.”

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Sitting in the first wildcard spot in the East, the Senators control their destiny with 12 games left, but can’t afford many more nights like this down the stretch if the organization is going to host playoff games for the first time in eight years.

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James Reimer made some big stops in the Buffalo goal, but the Senators need to play with more urgency in the offensive zone.

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Tage Thompson gave the Sabres a 3-2 lead only 1:23 into the third on a stop Forsberg has to make. From there, the Senators didn’t have nearly enough of a push to get back into this game.

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FORSBERG RETURNS

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Forsberg made only his second start and fourth appearance since the Senators returned from the 4 Nations Face-Off break on Feb. 22.

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He won his last start with 20 stops in a victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on March 11 on the road. Twice, he’s taken over after Linus Ullmark was pulled, including last Thursday against the Colorado Avalanche.

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Forsberg came into his game with a 4-5-0 lifetime record with a 2.48 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage. Through 40 minutes, Ottawa needed him to be better in this one.

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Former Senators’ defenceman Jacob Bernard-Docker scored his first with the Sabres by firing a blast from the point to tie it up 2-2 at 12:56 of the second. Forsberg waved his arms, but he needs to make that stop.

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That came after Perron had given the Senators the lead by scoring his seventh of the year at 7:39 of the second. That’s Perron’s third goal in five games, and he’s been solid.

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“This was a game we’ve got to find a way to get to overtime and get a point out of it,” coach Travis Green said. “I thought we made a couple of mistakes defensively that cost us goals, and ultimately we lost the game.”