Tyler Ennis' hat trick carries Senators past Sabres

[January 26, 2022] Ottawa's Tyler Ennis scored a hat trick as the Senators routed the visiting Buffalo Sabres 5-0 on Tuesday.

Drake Batherson and Alex Formenton also scored and Josh Brown, Adam Gaudette and Brady Tkachuk each had two assists for the Senators, who are 4-2-1 in their past seven games. Ottawa's Matt Murray made 32 saves.

Aaron Dell made 42 saves for the Sabres, who have not won consecutive games since mid-December.

Jeff Skinner thought he gave the Sabres the lead midway through the first period when he pushed home a rebound of his attempt on a breakaway, but the goal was waved off after the whistle had blown because Senators forward Dylan Gambrell was injured at the other end of the ice.

Gambrell left the game and did not return.
 

Ennis put the Senators ahead 1-0 at 15:53 of the first period. Gaudette put the puck through his own legs before dishing a backhand feed behind Sabres defenseman Robert Hagg and over to Ennis at the right side of the net on a two-on-one.

Batherson doubled the lead at 17:11 on a power play. Tim Stutzle's shot from the left circle redirected off Batherson and hit Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson in front of the net.
 

Buffalo Sabres right wing Tage Thompson (72) shoots the puck wide of the goal in the first period against the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports

Ennis struck again just over a minute and a half later, taking a Gaudette feed through Hagg's legs for an easy tap-in at the right of the net. That extended it to 3-0 at 18:48.

Batherson left the game with a minute remaining in the first period after he was hit by Dell near the net. The Senators' forward was unable to put any weight on his left leg as he left the ice.

Formenton made it 4-0 at 11:15 of the second period on a two-on-one with Stutzle. Formenton dished off to Stutzle, who drew Dell out of position to the right before feeding the puck back to Formenton on the left side.

Ennis completed the hat trick from the top of the right circle with 30 seconds remaining in the third period. It was the second hat trick of his 13-season NHL career; the other came on March 4, 2019, for the Toronto Maple Leafs at Calgary.

--Field Level Media

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