3 takeaways from the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators

The Buffalo Sabres returned to KeyBank Center on Wednesday night to play the Ottawa Senators. They were looking to extend their win streak to four after winning their last three games on the road on the West Coast.

Unfortunately, that didn't end up happening as they would lose 2-1 to the Ottawa Senators after their division rival scored twice in the final period. Early in this game, it was evenly matched and neither team was really giving up much. Eventually, Peyton Krebs would break the scoreless tie as he deflected a Tage Thompson shot for the goal and the 1-0 lead.

However, the Senators didn't go away and scored two goals in the final 10 minutes of the game to get the win in regulation. It is a game they will want to put behind them but before they do that, these are a few takeaways from the game on Wednesday night for the Buffalo Sabres.

Senators outplay the Sabres in the third period

The Buffalo Sabres had the 1-0 lead going into the third period and dating back to last season, they have been very good in these situations. They were 35-2 last season and were already 3-0 entering this game against the Senators.

Through the first two periods, it was pretty evenly matched, with the Sabres having 20 scoring chances and the Senators having 19 in 5v5 situations. The same for high-danger chances as the Sabres had seven and the Senators had five, according to Natural Stat Trick.

However, the third period was a different story as the Senators would finish with eight scoring chances and five high-danger chances to the Sabres' three scoring chances and two high-danger chances.

It is early in the season, but this feels like a game where the Sabres needed to at least get one point against a division rival.

Senators capitalized on Sabres' struggles in the faceoff circle

One area that was not even between the two teams and where Ottawa had a clear advantage was in the faceoff circle. The Senators finished this game winning almost 70% of the faceoffs, and on one faceoff win, they were able to directly turn it into a goal.

In the third period, the Ottawa Senators were able to win the faceoff and almost immediately Philip Tomasino took a shot and Ellis was unable to control it. The puck bounced right to Shane Pinto, who was able to put the rebound in the back of the net.

Last season, the Sabres had the worst faceoff win percentage at only 45.9% and haven't been much better this season at 46.2%. On Wednesday night, it was a deciding factor in a game that was so evenly matched.

Colten Ellis with highlight reel saves to keep Sabres in this game

Goaltending has been an issue at times this season but it definitely wasn't against the Senators. In fact, Colten Ellis made some huge saves that kept the Sabres in this game and were one of the reasons they had the lead as late into this game as they did.

Ellis finished the game stopping 28 of 30 shots and had an expected goals against of 3.78, according to Natural Stat Trick, which highlights how well he did to keep the Sabres in this game. He has now had two really good starts in the past three games with his shutout against the San Jose Sharks. In the end, it wasn't enough to get the win tonight, but there are a lot more issues in this game outside of goaltending.

The Sabres will look to regroup as their next game will be on Friday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

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