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“But that’s where in terms of being reliable, being able to help us kill the opponents’ offence, preventing the shots and the momentum that the opponent can get from the rush and then inside the zone after, I think that’s where we’re evolving.”

There was really no gap at all between Chabot and Buffalo Sabres winger Johan Larsson six and a half minutes into the first period of Thursday’s game at Canadian Tire Centre. That’s because Mark Borowiecki gloved the puck into Chabot’s feet as he coasted backward into the zone, and he only saw it as he pushed with Larsson while Scott Wilson beat Craig Anderson with a short side shot.

It was the only goal through the first two periods, at which point it looked like the Sabres were closing the gap on Ottawa in the race to get out of the Eastern Conference basement – a race that does not benefit the winner whatsoever.

STARTS AND STOPS: It won’t happen, but the Senators really should consider making a trade offer for Robin Lehner. He’s earning $4 million this season and will be an RFA in the summer, then has one more year to go before being eligible to become an UFA, but The Lehner always did like living in The Ottawa. And if he returns to the Senators, at least that will stop him from dominating them. Heading into Thursday’s game, Lehner’s career numbers against his former team were 5-0-2, .955 save percentage and 1.39 goals against average … It took 45 minutes, 15 seconds and 27 shots before the Senators put one past the big boy on Thursday. And that deflection was a fluke – unless you believe Marian Gaborik was trying to tip it by Lehner on the short side while standing a stride or two inside the blue line … Boucher probably didn’t see the suggestion in this space to pair Chabot and Cody Ceci – so they could start developing into the next Erik Karlsson-Marc Methot tandem – because he started Thursday’s game with Ceci alongside Harpur. “They have the look of a shutdown pair,” Boucher said Thursday morning, citing how well the two played together against Colorado in Sweden. “We’ll see over time. It’s not overnight.” …. Asked about playing with Big Ben a few minutes earlier, Ceci said: “We’re not too sure if we’re going to be stuck together for the rest of the year or not.” It turned out to be not, as the pairings were shuffled throughout the game …