NHL: The Senators were unable to make a comeback during the evening in honor of Craig Anderson

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The Ottawa Senators nearly pulled off an improbable comeback, but they finally suffered their second straight loss with a 6-4 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night.

Trailing 5-2 early in the third period, Vladimir Tarasenko scored his third goal of the season with 4:25 minutes left.

Despite the delay, the Ottawas did not allow themselves to be crushed. Brady Tkachuk, who briefly left the game in the second half and appeared to be experiencing right shoulder soreness, clashed with Alex Tuch after the latter blocked his path to bring him down. A fight also broke out in a later sequence and it escalated between Dylan Cousins ​​and Tarasenko.

All of this clearly stunned the locals, who found themselves on the power play, with Josh Norris and Mathieu Joseph scoring goals 19 seconds apart to cut the deficit to 5-4. However, taking advantage of having six players on the ice with 35.8 seconds remaining on the clock, they fumbled in the offensive zone and Taj Thompson put the nail in the coffin by slamming the puck into an empty net to preserve the Sabers win. Thompson finished the game with two goals and an assist.

After denying the first goal, the Sabers quickly recovered. Like the previous day against the Montreal Canadiens, Jeff Skinner scored his team’s first goal by completing a two-man landing with Alex Tuch.

Active though for the second game in two evenings, they doubled the lead 3 minutes later when Connor Clifton’s wrist shot was blocked by Zemgus Girgensons.

Skinner beat Anton Forsberg again to make it 3-0 in the second period, and then Ottawa finally came to its senses thanks to Jakob Cicero, who pounced in the comeback after Travis Hamonic’s shot hit the post.

Tuch gave the Sabers a three-goal lead again, while Thompson made it 5-2.

The Senators were without defenseman Artem Zub for the second straight game due to an upper-body injury. To replace him in the lineup, Jacob Bernard Docker was recalled from the MLS on Monday.

Tribute to Craig Anderson

Before the start of the game, the Senators paid tribute to their former goalie Craig Anderson, who signed a one-day contract with the team on Tuesday to retire the uniform he wore from 2010-2020.

Accompanied by his wife and two sons, he held a special celebratory confrontation between the two main goalkeepers, Anton Forsberg and Oko-Pekka Luukkonen.

“I wanted to continue longer. This place has been home, for me and my family. To be here today, and to be able to conclude this journey in this way, is worthy of a fairy tale,” the guest of honor said before the ceremony.

The goalkeeper enjoyed the best moments of his career in Ottawa, where he led the team to the league final in 2017, before concluding his career with today’s guest, the Sabres, for whom he saved the cage 26 times last season, at the age of 41 years. year.

He plays for the Chicago Blackhawks, Florida Panthers, Colorado Avalanche, and Washington Capitals.

In his career, Anderson has maintained a goals-against average of 2.86 and a .912 save percentage in 709 games against the NHL Nets, including 621 starts.