Senators' Chabot: 'Nobody can hide' after being booed off ice

The Ottawa Senators' first home game in more than three weeks did not go according to plan.

Ottawa fell 4-0 to the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night, and Senators fans responded accordingly by booing their team off the ice.

"It just wasn't good," defenseman Thomas Chabot said postgame. "There's no way around it. Nobody can hide behind anything. It's just from top to bottom, the whole team, just not good enough. Simple as that."

He added, "Came back home and we were excited for the game, and we just didn't show up."

Senators head coach Travis Green understood where the boo birds were coming from.

"Fans want us to win," he said. "You never like to hear boos, but they're passionate. They pay good money to come to the game and they want us to win.

"But again, when you look at the game - like really step away and look at it - I don't really believe it was like a 4-0 team where another team was all over us. It was far from that. But there were some plays that you can't make and teams are gonna make you pay the price."

It was a particularly difficult night for Chabot, who was on the ice for all four goals. He committed a turnover at the offensive blue line prior to the first of Jack Quinn's two goals in the opening frame, while the Sabres' last tally of the contest went off Chabot and into his own net.

Ottawa outshot Buffalo 35-21 but ultimately couldn't solve Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. The loss continued a concerning trend for the Senators, who have mustered just four goals in their last four games - all losses.

"You're gonna get frustrated," Green said. "It's hard not to. If you don't get frustrated, you're probably in the wrong business. Guys are upset, guys are frustrated when they don't win whether they play well or not. It's how you handle that frustration and how you reset."

Ottawa has been without star netminder Linus Ullmark since he left the team's 3-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Dec. 22 with a back injury.

The Senators are 1-4-1 with the 2023 Vezina Trophy winner on the shelf and currently sit in fifth place of the Atlantic Division with a 19-18-3 record.

Ottawa will take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET.