The Paddock Report: Senators slip past Sabres 2-1 in a tight one

Senators 2, Sabres 1. Ottawa walked into Buffalo and left with two points, and nobody should treat that as a footnote. In a league where one-goal games come down to small margins, the Sabres will be sick about this one for a while.

Let's be clear about what the scoreline tells us. Two goals were enough for the visitors. One wasn't enough for the home side. That's the whole story in a box score, and it's a story that gets old fast when your fan base has already been burned by close losses. Close games are where teams prove they can grind. Buffalo came up one goal short, and that's a result the group has to own.

Ottawa deserves credit. Winning on the road in a tight contest is something good teams do and frustrating teams don't. The Senators didn't need a blowout. They needed to hold their nerve and take the result, and they did.

Where does Buffalo go from here? The answer isn't complicated. Tighten the finishing, tighten the details in the late stretch, and stop giving away games that are there to be won. Easier said than done, sure. But this is the kind of loss that either becomes a lesson or becomes a habit, and the next few games will tell us which one it is.

Verdict: a winning night for Ottawa and a frustrating one for Buffalo that they need to shake off quickly. Nobody's panicking yet, but nobody should pretend this was fine either.