Backup goalie Leevi Merilainen struggled mightily in the club's third straight loss.

Life without captain Brady Tkachuk got off to a difficult start for the Ottawa Senators. Article content

The Senators couldn’t get a save from backup goalie Leevi Merilainen, and as a result, they weren’t able to save themselves from an ugly 8-4 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night at the KeyBank Center. Article content Article content

Lars Eller, Shane Pinto, Jake Sanderson, and Tim Stutzle scored for the Senators, and that wasn’t nearly enough because Merilainen struggled mightily in the club’s third straight loss.

After battling back to cut the Sabres’ lead to 5-4 early in the third with goals from Eller and Pinto, Buffalo struck back by beating Merilainen twice in a span of 49 seconds

See Full Page