The Buffalo Sabres had a chance to make history and give fans a night they would never forget. They only needed a win against the Ottawa Senators to officially put an end to the 14-season playoff drought.
Unfortunately, the night didn't unfold like they would have hoped, as it was a tight game between these two teams, with the Senators ultimately coming away with the win. The Sabres gained the early lead with Mattias Samuelsson scoring the first goal in the second period.
It was all Ottawa after that, though, as they would score four straight, including two empty-net goals at the end, to win 4-1. The Sabres remain at 100 points and are now tied with the Lightning at the top of the Atlantic Division.
These are some of the top takeaways from the game on Thursday night.
Josh Dunne replaces Sam Carrick in the lineup
The Buffalo Sabres were without Noah Ostlund for a third straight game, but he wasn't the only player missing for this game, as Sam Carrick was also out. This was expected as he suffered an arm injury against the New York Islanders after a fight with Anders Lee, and Lindy Ruff confirmed it is a week-to-week injury.
For this game, the Sabres continued to have Zach Benson on the third line with Josh Norris and Josh Doan, and had Jordan Greenway replacing Benson on the fourth line. However, Greenway was joined by Josh Dunne, who was the center for that line.
This was Dunne's first game since March 5th, and he was limited in ice time with less than 10 minutes, but he did have two hits on the night. It will be interesting to see how the Sabres approach replacing Carrick moving forward, and if it is Dunne's spot or they look at Tyson Kozak or even Peyton Krebs.
Mattias Samuelsson with first goal in almost a month
The Buffalo Sabres struggled to find the net in this game until Mattias Samuelsson was able to open the scoring in the second period. He had a great shot from the blue line that snuck between Linus Ullmark, and it was his first goal since the beginning of March.
Samuelsson has had a career season in terms of goals, as this was his 13th goal of the season after only seven goals combined in the five seasons before this season. The Sabres have gotten great production from their defenseman this season in the offensive zone, and if Samuelsson is able to find that scoring touch again, it will be a boost to this offense.
Former Buffalo Sabres deny the franchise the chance to end their playoff drought
The Buffalo Sabres had a great opportunity to punch their ticket to the playoffs and put an end to the 14-season playoff drought. Unfortunately, they weren't able to do it with the 4-1 loss to the Senators on Thursday night.
What makes this loss sting even more is that it was two former Buffalo Sabres who denied the team the chance to clinch a playoff spot. The Sabres had a 1-0 lead in the second period before Dylan Cozens, a former first-round pick of Buffalo, was able to tie the game up.
However, the biggest reason the Sabres did not clinch was the performance of Linus Ullmark in net for the Senators. The former Sabres' goalie did not give Buffalo much of anything as he stopped 21 of 22 shots he faced.
While the Sabres didn't officially clinch, it doesn't really change their chances much to make the playoffs. The magic number remains at two, which means one more win or one more loss from the teams just outside the playoffs is enough to get them in.
However, this loss does have significant impacts for the division race, which got much tighter on Thursday night with the Lightning and Canadiens winning. The Sabres' next game is on Saturday as they remain on the road to play the Washington Capitals.