Game Preview: Ottawa Senators @ Buffalo Sabres

It's that time again. The Buffalo Sabres have the Ottawa Senators on their plate which is about as exciting as it is for Toronto Maple Leafs supporters when they take on our boys. Both squads are fresh off a lopsided loss although Buffalo's demise came late in the game whereas Ottawa was embarrassed from the second period on in Pittsburgh.

A loss is a loss no matter how you cut it though and the Sabres came out flat against Washington becoming unable to revive themselves. Ottawa's established 5-3 and 2-0 wins already but those two contests took place in the nation's capital. Tonight, Buffalo will have the crowd in their favor among other things.

Ten thoughts on the game below.

• One-timers, rebounds and deflections were what Washington beat Ryan Miller with on Wednesday. There were no soft goals allowed by the goaltender but it just wasn't Buffalo's night. Miller is 11-4-2 on home ice this season and 8-12-1 in his career versus Ottawa.
  
• Pascal Leclaire will likely step in for the Senators and he's the owner of some marvelous numbers against the Sabres. The former Blue Jacket has a 2-0 record, 0.75 goals against average, a .967 save percentage and one shutout. We'll see if Buffalo can get the better of him and Ottawa finally.
  
• Daniel Alfredsson will sit it out for a few weeks with a shoulder injury joining Jason Spezza. This creates an opening for Buffalo to rout them as arguably their two best performers aren't available. For the Sabres, Thomas Vanek, Patrick Kaleta, Chris Butler and Nathan Gerbe remain inactive.
  
• Two weak powerplays to note as each club has operated at a 15.8 per cent clip which is worsened by only Carolina and Pittsburgh. Ottawa is 0-for-18 in their previous five matches and Buffalo's problems have been catastrophic in 5-on-4 situations too.
  
• A rough evening for Paul Gaustad in Washington. After scoring in the second period and with the Sabres down one goal halfway through the third, Goose took a tripping minor giving the Capitals a 5-on-3. They scored easily and added another during the remainder of the penalty creating a three-goal lead.
  
• Speaking of mistakes, Leclaire allowed six goals on 24 shots from the Penguins in his first game back returning from injury. Does that bode well for Buffalo or will he bounce back?
• Ottawa is 5-10-1 away from home and 5-8 in December. Buffalo is seven points ahead of the Senators with a game in hand so a win would enlarge that gap.
  
• Tim Connolly scored for the first time in 13 games Wednesday and has goals in just two of 26 contests. It goes without saying that a lot of players must be better but Connolly in particular because of his offensive abilities. Jason Pominville has one goal in ten matches struggling himself. 
• Milan Michalek has one goal in 12 games and Alex Kovalev hasn't registered a goal in 22 of 23. Mike Fisher is the big dog on offense as are most players who are in the middle of a career year.
• Apart from Derek Roy, Jochen Hecht is turning into one of the productive Sabre forwards with six points in seven games. The two are on the top line and have found excellent chemistry together. Now, if only Drew Stafford would do the same. 

The fact that Buffalo hasn't lost to Ottawa on home ice this year creates reason for optimism. With Spezza and Alfredsson both unavailable, the Sabres should come out storming following their horrible start in Washington. Despite missing important players, you can't count the Senators out of this. Where there's a will, there's a way and Ottawa seems to always find a way to defeat their Division rivals.