Anderson blanks Buffalo

Craig Anderson stole the show stopping 42 shots for a shutout win over the Buffalo Sabres at Scotiabank Place.

Erik Karlsson was the guy to watch out for on the ice tonight – and for good reason. He saw the opening after a solid pass from Milan Michalek; he went for it and fired a short-handed bullet past Ryan Miller at 15:20 in the second.

“That’s Karlsson,” Anderson said. “Enough said. Period. End of story. He’s just one step ahead of everyone else.”

Erik Condra extended the Senators lead less than two minutes later off a scramble in front of the net.

Miller has been on fire since Buffalo’s 3-2 win against the New York Islanders last Saturday. He was outstanding in the Sabres’ 3-1 loss to the Bruins on Sunday and he carried that solid play into tonight’s game.

He made an incredible sprawling save off a shot by Kyle Turris at 13:45 in the third.

Miller has blocked 106 of the 112 shots he’s faced in the past three games.

Buffalo outshot Ottawa 13-7 in the first period and 15-7 in the third, but were unable to capitalize. Jordan Leopold and Thomas Vanek led the team, each with five shots on goal.

Drew Stafford is one player in particular who can’t seem to capitalize. He is 0 for 40 in shots this season. The only Sabres player with more shots than Stafford is Vanek. Vanek, however, leads the NHL with 11 goals and 23 points.

Offense continued to be a struggle for the Sabres tonight. Tyler Ennis has had the lone goal in the past two games.

The man-advantage was a struggle for both teams. Ottawa was 0 for 8 and Buffalo was 0 for 4 on the power play. The lack of discipline from the Sabres needs to change according to Head Coach Lindy Ruff.

“We can’t put ourselves in that position,” Ruff said. “We used a couple of our better players killing penalties and they emptied the tank there.”

That tank has already been emptying steadily as the Sabres have approached their 14^th game in 24 days. They now have a few days off before they face Boston on Friday at First Niagara Center.

Miller had 29 saves in tonight’s game. He now carries a 2.89 GAA and a .915 save percentage.

The Sabres are now 5-8-1.

Three star selections:

1. Craig Anderson

2. Erik Karlsson

3. Erik Condra

NOTES:

• Mikhail Grigorenko had 1:58 on the PP.

• 800^th NHL game for Jochen Hecht

• 600^th NHL game for Leopold

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Olga Khmylev

Buffalo Sabres Contributor

"Hockey is a man's sport." Thank you Mom & Dad! ☺ Ever since my dream of becoming the 1st female NHLer was crushed, I decided to pursue a career that would keep me involved with the most entertaining sport in the world. The Sabres are in my blood. My first game I ever attended was at age 2 and I think I spent 59 minutes of the game sleeping in the wives room... ha! Things have slightly changed since then and now my eyes are permanently glued to the ice whenever a game is on. I've been lucky enough to work as a PR intern for the Buffalo Sabres during the 2011 World Jrs and as a Results Manager for the International Ice Hockey Federation at the 2012 & 2013 World Jrs. The next chapter of my life involves entertaining you… Enjoy! 🙂 Twitter: @OlgaKhmylev

@OlgaKhmylev

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