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 But in the end, Hammond swallowed up 24 shots to extend both his and
the team's undefeated streak to eight games.
Early third period goals 1:34 apart by center Mika Zibanejad and
winger Mark Stone lifted the Senators to a 3-2 victory over the
cellar-dwelling Sabres at Canadian Tire Centre.
The win moved Ottawa to within three points of the Boston Bruins in
the race for the last wild card spot in the East.
"We were fortunate to get the win," said Hammond, who was called up
from the Senators' AHL farm team in Binghamton when starting goalie
Craig Anderson went on injured reserve Jan. 29, then took over the
No. 1 role Feb. 18 when Robin Lehner also went down. "I think it
started with me. I don't think I had my best game, by any means. It
seemed like I was just fighting it all night, and for a while there
it translated to the team.
"At the start of the second period we had a good push back, and the
third as well, to get the goals. From there it was just kind of
trying to will the rest of the game and just play an ugly style of
hockey. Fortunately we were able to."
While Hammond improved his record to 7-0-1, the Sabres were forced
to use backup goalie Anders Lindbach, who turned in a strong 34-save
performance, when Chad Johnson went down during the morning skate.
After the game, Sabres coach Ted Nolan explained the severity of the
injury.
"Chad unfortunately hurt something lower body and he'll be out for a
while," said Nolan. "It's not day-to-day. It will be for a while."
When asked if he Johnson could be done for the season, Nolan
replied: "Possibly. We'll get our doctors to look at him and see
what happens."
Sabres center Philip Varone and winger Tyle Ennis scored in the
first period to give Buffalo just its 14th head start through 20
minutes.
Ennis came close to making it 3-0 when he hit the post a shift after
his goal.
"Keeping it simple, working hard, getting pucks to the net. It was
nothing fancy," Varone said in explaining how the Sabres built the
lead. "That goalie, it was only his seventh or eighth game and I
know he was playing well, but I bet every game he's going in a
little nervous. It's the NHL.
"I think we had him on the ropes a little bit. (Ennis) hit the post
there and it looked like we should have more control of the game,
but we took our foot off the gas."
Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson started a rally from the deficit
in the first minute of the second period, scoring his 16th goal of
the season that was also his 50th point, tops among all NHL blue
liners.
"I actually have no clue about that stuff as of right now, it's not
something that has been the focus at all," Karlsson said when told
he had moved ahead of Montreal's P.K. Subban in scoring. "We've been
playing great lately and that's the key point to it all."
Playing for the first time at home since returning from a five-game
in 10-days road trip that saw them grab nine points, the Senators
knew it wouldn't be an easy night.
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"There's a trend right through the NHL, going back years, when teams
come off that long road trip there's a letdown," said coach Dave
Cameron. "To be honest with you, I think tonight's game played out
pretty much the way I thought it would. I knew we weren't going to
be real sharp, we were going to be a little bit sluggish and you
just hope you didn't fall behind (too much). Credit to (the
players). They found a way to get two huge points for us."
They managed that when winger Bobby Ryan shuffled a backhand pass to
Zibanejad, who beat Lindbach with a low shot to the glove side from
the edge of the crease 1:34 into the final frame, and soon after
that Stone scored by banging in a rebound after defenseman Marc
Methot was stopped on a wraparound.
"We kind of watched those last two goals," said Nolan. "Those are
the things that are going to happen when you got inexperienced guys
in tight situations and you've got experienced guys on the other
team. Hopefully we just learn from it."
The Sabres, who are in the midst of a five-game road trip, travel to
Washington to take on the Capitals on Saturday. The Senators next
game is Sunday, when they host the Calgary Flames.
The Senators will be keeping an eye on the outcome of Saturday
afternoon's game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Bruins, but
it's not like they'll be glued to their TV sets.
"At the end of the day, we're just trying to worry about ourselves,"
said Stone. "Kind of a cliche, but at the end of the day it's more
about us than them. If we continue to play this hockey, there's no
reason we can't make the playoffs."
NOTES: Senators G Craig Anderson, who hasn't played since Jan. 21
mostly because of a bruised hand, was the backup to G Andrew Hammond
for a second consecutive game. When the Senators were in Winnipeg on
Wednesday morning, coach Dave Cameron said Anderson would play that
night against the Jets, but later had to retract that after learning
Anderson's injury was still causing him discomfort. On Friday
morning, Cameron said he didn't even bother to ask Anderson about
his hand. "There was no discussion on who's starting tonight," said
Cameron. ... Sabres G Chad Johnson was scheduled to start, but he
suffered a lower-body injury at the morning skate. In his place, G
Anders Lindbach made his third start a member of the Sabres. ...
Sabres C Zac Dalpe was excused for personal reasons and missed the
game. ... Senators RW Colin Greening was a healthy scratch as
Cameron elected to go with rookie RW Matt Puempel. ... Senators D
Jared Cowen was a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game.
Cowen hasn't played since Feb. 21, missing three games with a
suspension and another with a virus.
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