BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Bowen Byram and Tage Thompson scored 16 seconds apart to open the third period, and the Buffalo Sabres snapped a three-game skid with a 5-1 win over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.
Byram scored twice, JJ Peterka had two goals and an assist and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 37 saves.
Ridly Greig converted his own rebound in cutting Buffalo’s lead to 2-1 with 7:31 left in the second period. Linus Ullmark made 29 saves in dropping to 1-4 in his past five starts.
Buffalo went up 3-1 on Byram's second goal 21 seconds into the third period. The defenceman's shot from inside the blue line sneaked through Ullmark, with the puck rolling down the goalie’s pad, dropping into the crease and trickling across the line. Thompson scored when he crashed the net, was knocked over by defender Jake Sanderson and was lying in the crease when Alex Tuch’s shot went in off his shoulder.
TAKEAWAYS
Senators: Ottawa’s best start to a season since 2016-17 hit another road speed bump. The Senators have lost four straight road games and are 1-5 overall.
Sabres: Coach Lindy Ruff’s impatience over sloppy play led to defencemen Mattias Samuelsson and Henri Jokiharju being healthy scratches. The message got through with Buffalo getting off to a fast start and didn't back down when things turned physical.
KEY MOMENT
With Buffalo up 1-0, Luukkonen got his blocker up to stop Noah Gregor attempting to convert Josh Norris’ pass on a two-man breakaway late in the first period.
KEY STAT
301 — Career points for Rasmus Dahlin in becoming Buffalo's third defenceman to reach 300, joining Phil Housley (558) and Mike Ramsey (329). With 234 career assists, Dahlin passed Doug Bodger (233) and tied Alexei Zhitnick for third on the team list.
UP NEXT
Senators: Host the New York Islanders on Thursday.
Sabres: Visit the New York Rangers on Thursday.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
John Wawrow, The Associated Press
