Observations: Sabres' skid hits seven as goalie Eric Comrie is injured in loss to Senators

That 7-3 start has gone poof in the night in just two weeks. The Sabres are 7-10 as their losing streak hit seven games Wednesday night with a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Ottawa Senators in a game marked by the second-period departure of Buffalo starting goalie Eric Comrie.

Comrie appeared to injure his left knee with 10:17 left in the period when he collided with Senators forward Mathieu Joseph, who was pushed into the goalie by Buffalo defenseman Rasmus Dahlin. Comrie initially stayed in the game and gave up Brady Tkachuk's tiebreaking goal 14 seconds later on a rebound off the back boards that put Ottawa in front for good 2-1.

Comrie, who has started 11 of Buffalo's 17 games after signing a two-year, $3.6 million free agent contract in July, played a little over three minutes more before skating to the bench during the next television timeout, talking to trainers and departing.

"He's going to be out for a little bit, but we obviously have to get a further look on him," coach Don Granato said.

"That was my fault. I apologized to him," Dahlin said of Comrie. "(Joseph) came very close to the net and I tried to stop him and I bumped him into Eric. So I owe (Comrie) one."

It is expected that the Sabres will call up Rochester goalie prospect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (6-3, 3.07/.898) to replace Comrie, who gave way Wednesday to veteran Craig Anderson. Comrie stopped 22 of 24 shots, and Anderson stopped 14 of 15. Anderson was honored with a first-period video presentation and a standing ovation from the generously announced Canadian Tire Centre crowd of 13,558 in his first game back in Ottawa since leaving for Washington in 2020.

"Credit to him, he tried to play through it and battle through it," Anderson said of Comrie. "Just unfortunate, the way it goes. Hopefully, it's not too long a timeline. He was playing a great game keeping us in there."

It was the second straight night the Sabres played a team that was 30th in the NHL's overall standings, with the Sens slipping into that spot after Vancouver escaped it with Tuesday's 5-4 win over Buffalo in KeyBank Center. The Sabres are headed in that direction after losing both games. Ottawa (6-9-1) pulled within one point of Buffalo in its bid to escape the Atlantic Division cellar.

"We're in a different area for us," Granato admitted before the game. "There's greater expectation, I think, external and internal. And we have to learn how to handle that."

"We've got to kind of dig down deep because there's no magic stick we're going to wave at it," Anderson said. "It's going to come from within. We're going to have to dig in and look at ourselves in the mirror and say, 'Where can we as an individual and as a group help the team win, get back on track?' "

Granato nearly got exactly the start he wanted when Jeff Skinner used a nifty spin move to get in alone on Sens goalie Anton Forsberg, but his quick snapshot from in tight rattled off the crossbar and bounded away just 25 seconds into the game. Later, JJ Peterka hit a post and was also stopped by Ottawa goalie Anton Forsberg on a 2-on-0. Dylan Cozens also failed to convert a breakaway. It was that kind of night.

Ottawa opened the scoring at 9:45 of the first on Austin Watson's snapshot past Comrie, his first goal of the year. Tage Thompson's power-play goal, his 12th goal of the season, got Buffalo even at 6:41 of the second, but Tkachuk's goal on an Ottawa power play put the Senators back in front, and Alex DeBrincat beat Anderson to give Ottawa breathing room with 5:39 left. Tim Stutzle hit the empty net with 40 seconds left.

"The challenge the last three games in this little bit has been a little bit more attention, anxiety. Psychological components," Granato said. "Maybe that's why you don't score as proficiently, or you squeeze a stick a little tighter. And that's something, unfortunately, we've got to grow through."

Here are more observations on the game:

1. Power play issues

In an eight-game stretch from Oct. 27-Nov. 10, the Sabres scored at least one power play goal in each game and were converting at a 35.4% clip. But the man-advantage squads have hit a brick wall of late, going 1 for 14 over the last three games. Things cratered Tuesday as Buffalo went 0 for 4 in the first period and finished the game 1 for 8 with just six shots on goal.

Zone entries at the Ottawa line and offensive-zone faceoffs were two of the major issues the Sabres struggled to overcome. The Sabres were just 4 for 13 in the circle on the power play in the game.

"We're gripping the stick too much," Dahlin said. "We have our chances, but we can't really execute right now. We need more swagger to our game. We've just got to go back to work."

Added Granato: "A good unit there tonight or good performance there tonight would have been the difference."

2. 'Andy, Andy'

That was the chant of the Ottawa crowd during the video tribute to Anderson, who played for the Senators from 2010-2020 and won the Bill Masterton Trophy in 2017, the year Ottawa came within a goal of the Stanley Cup final.

"Just tried not to be emotional," Anderson said. "I spent a lot of time here. Seeing some of the memories was nice to kind of flash back on. It's in the past. I definitely enjoyed it. It was a great part of my life, a great time in my life. And so I'm thankful for that. It was great to kind of relive the moment and be remembered."

Nice scene here during the timeout as the #Sens honored #Sabres goalie Craig Anderson with a welcome back video. Big ovation. pic.twitter.com/1NyQHWelD7

— Mike Harrington (@ByMHarrington) November 17, 2022

3. Roster news

The Sabres gave winger Anders Bjork his NHL debut to inject more speed into the lineup after Riley Sheahan got his 2022-23 debut against Vancouver. Bjork played on the fourth line with Zemgus Girgensons, and Rasmus Asplund slid into Sheahan's slot at center. 

Girgensons, however, didn't finish the game after taking a high hit late in the second period. Granato did not have an update on his status. The rest of the lineup was unchanged. Captain Kyle Okposo (lower body) was officially placed on injured reserve to make room for Henri Jokiharju's return against Vancouver.

4. Next

The Sabres are scheduled to be off Thursday and then practice Friday morning in KeyBank Center in advance of Saturday night's game in Toronto. Of course, like anything in Western New York in the next 48-72 hours, it's all going to be dependent upon the weather. Stay tuned.