Jack Eichel’s Four-Goal Night Downs Senators

In the midst of a two-game winning streak, the Ottawa Senators put forth another good effort in the second game of a back-to-back.

Alas, twas not to be. Jack Eichel took care of all the scoring himself, despite retaliation from Anthony Duclair and Tyler Ennis, and the Buffalo Sabres skated to a 4-2 victory.

The Sabres snapped a six-game losing skid, and the Senators saw their streak come to an end, falling to 8-11-1 on the season.

After a scoreless first period, Eichel opened the scoring 1:28 into the second, with a bullet of a shot that beat Craig Anderson high glove side.

The Senators would answer back 6:04 into the frame, when they finally got a powerplay goal. Just as a 5on3 expired, Logan Brown made a gorgeous feed to Anthony Duclair. The Duke rifled a Hoffman or Heatley-esque one-timer past Linus Ullmark, to tie the game at 1-1.

Beauty pass and Duclair finishes it. #GoSensGo tie it up on the PP. 1-1. #Sabres pic.twitter.com/XRSNFqrhY1

— Alex M (@nhlsensandstuff) November 17, 2019

Eichel would restore the Buffalo lead a little over three and a half minutes later, with another high glove shot. The Sabres took their 2-1 lead into the third, but Tyler Ennis tipped Ron Hainsey’s point shot (still weird) top shelf 2:01 into the third, and we were all square once again.

Ennis tips a point shot in and the #GoSensGo tie it 2-2. #Sabres pic.twitter.com/Ybr02IR0vW

— Alex M (@nhlsensandstuff) November 17, 2019

Valiant an effort as it was, the Sabres pulled away a little over 10 minutes after the tying goal, as Eichel himself pulled away into the Ottawa end, and netted the hat trick goal. Low blocker this time, if you were wondering.

The Buffalo captain would tack on an empty-netter, and that would be all she wrote. Four goals for the captain, and the Sens go down 4-2.

Game Notes:

• I am loving what I’m seeing from Logan Brown. He looked like he needed last night to get his legs back underneath him, but Brown appeared to have his confidence back tonight. His passing was crisp, his defensive positioning solid, and he’s looking more and more like a number one centre. Now, if only he could score.
• Filip Chlapik had the team’s best possession numbers tonight, posting a 54.55% Corsi rating in only 8:45mins. While he appears to be effective in a checking role, it would be interesting to see the results of him getting more minutes. It may be awhile, if it all, with Brown, Pageau, and White playing so well, but it’s fun to think about.
• Thomas Chabot had a secondary assist on the Duclair goal, and another solid night. He’s still trying to do a little too much, at times, and needs to clean up the turnovers, but he appears to be developing on the right trajectory. I remember another young, star defenceman needing to clean up his game through the first few years. Then again, maybe Cody Ceci isn’t the best example...
• The line of Paul-Pageau-C. Brown looked great. They are so solid on the forecheck, and their relentlessness generates plenty of offensive chances. So much tenacity on one line, you absolutely love to see it./

As always, here are the game charts, courtesy of Natural Stat Trick:

The Sabres had most of the sustained pressure, but Ottawa had their chances too. Craig Anderson stood tall, all things considered.

The bulk of the Ottawa chances came from the goalmouth, as usual. Meanwhile, Jack Eichel’s slot shots proved lethal for the Sabres.

Up next:

It’s a divisional back-to-back on the road for Ottawa. They’re in Detroit on Tuesday, and Montreal on Wednesday.