Anton Forsberg made 33 saves to help the Ottawa Senators defeat the visiting Buffalo Sabres 3-1 on Sunday.
Tim Stutzle scored twice and Claude Giroux had two assists for the Senators, who won for the third time in their past four games.
Zemgus Girgensons scored for the Sabres, who had their six-game winning streak snapped. Craig Anderson made 30 saves.
Stutzle put the Senators ahead 1-0 just 47 seconds into the contest. After Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson fell, Giroux picked up the puck in the corner and sent it to Stutzle below the goal line. Stutzle skated the puck above the line for a pass intended for Brady Tkachuk, but it hit Buffalo defenseman Rasmus Dahlin and bounced back to Stutzle, who scored from in front.
Tkachuk nearly doubled the lead late in the frame when he hit the post twice, 15 seconds apart.
The Sabres had a prime opportunity to equalize with just under two minutes remaining in the period when they had a lengthy 5-on-3 advantage, but they struggled to generate much and failed to record a shot on goal on the power play.
Girgensons tied it at 6:51 of the second period. With the Senators changing, Samuelsson took a pass from Ilya Lyubushkin and sent a stretch pass through the neutral zone to Girgensons. He got behind the Ottawa defense and skated in, deking Forsberg before slipping the puck past his right pad.
Jacob Lucchini’s first NHL goal gave Ottawa a 2-1 lead on the power play at 11:45. Giroux sent the puck toward the net for Derick Brassard at the right edge of the crease. The pass hit Brassard’s stick and deflected out to the other side, where Lucchini snuck in to lift it into the net.
Stutzle scored into an empty net at 18:49 of the third for the 3-1 final. It was his 14th goal of the season.
–Field Level Media