Senators score seven in victory against Sabres

OTTAWA -- The Ottawa Senators scored four goals in a 3:29 span in the first period in a 7-4 win against the Buffalo Sabres at Canadian Tire Centre on Tuesday.

"Six goals in the first period was not a goalie duel," said Senators goalie Craig Anderson, who made 23 saves. "It was just one of those games where it was going back and forth and you just didn't know what the difference was going to be."
WATCH: [All Sabres vs. Senators highlights]
Jean-Gabriel Pageau had two goals and two assists, and Anthony Duclair scored his first goal since Dec. 21 (22 games) for Ottawa (21-28-11), which is 3-1-0 in its past four games.
"Right now, we're having good chemistry with the linemates I have (Brady Tkachuk and Connor Brown)," Pageau said. "I just try to keep improving my game. Try to get better and build that confidence. I want to still prove that I can play in this League for many years."
The Senators were playing without defenseman Dylan DeMelo
after he was traded to the Winnipeg Jets
for a third-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft earlier Tuesday.
"We're certainly not going to be as good without him," Senators coach D.J. Smith said. "He's a very smart, underrated player. I think that's why Winnipeg goes and picks him up. He's going to help them. He's calm under pressure."

Brandon Montour had two goals and an assist, and Carter Hutton made 33 saves for the Sabres (27-25-8), who had won three straight.
"It's a game of momentum and we had it all in the first 10 minutes … and let it go," Buffalo forward Kyle Okposo said. "So, disappointing."
Montour gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 2:14 of the first period, shooting into an open net after getting a clearing attempt by Senators defenseman Mike Reilly. He scored his second goal of the game on a one-timer from the left point to make it 2-0 at 10:12.
"I think everyone's got to realize where we're at," Montour said. "We let another one slip away. [Since] the bye week (Jan. 20-26), we've let a number of games slip away, and those are big points. Hopefully everybody in this room realizes we let another one go there and we've got to get back to work tomorrow."
Vladislav Namestnikov scored five-hole on a shorthanded rush to cut it to 2-1 at 14:02 before Artem Anisimov scored top shelf after Hutton missed on a poke check at the side of the net to tie it 2-2 at 15:07.
"We know that Ottawa's the best shorthanded scoring team in the League, we had awareness of that," Sabres coach Ralph Krueger said. "It's very disappointing. I thought we really slipped off the mark."

Drake Batherson scored nine seconds later on his own rebound to give Ottawa a 3-2 lead, and Anisimov scored his second with a wrist shot from the high slot on the power play to make it 4-2 at 17:31.
Okposo tapped in a cross-crease pass from Johan Larsson to cut it to 4-3 at 2:36 of the second period, but Ottawa made it 5-3 at 9:00 when Anthony Duclair's pass for Brady Tkachuk deflected off Hutton's pads and Pageau's skate into the net.
Victor Olofsson scored with a one-timer on the power play to cut it to 5-4 at 13:47.
Pageau one-timed a centering pass from Tkachuk on the power play to push the lead to 6-4 at 12:53 of the third period, and Duclair scored into an empty net while shorthanded with 46 seconds remaining for the 7-4 final.

They said it

"Brandon had a good game today. Those two goals were outstanding. He's just been a really good [defenseman] for us. He feels so comfortable right now, defensively, the pressure he's putting on the puck, and he uses his amazing skating skills. To see him add some offense tonight, we're happy. That is one positive we'll take out of this game." -- Sabres coach Ralph Krueger
"It's great for him. I mean, it's hard to be a starter in the National Hockey League and then certainly do it as long as he's done it. And through a rebuild, that's tough as well. There's some tough nights where you give up some high-end chances and things like that. So he's continued to be a great professional, continued to come to the rink, be a good teammate."-- Senators coach D.J. Smith on Craig Anderson, who won his 200th game with Ottawa

Need to know

Buffalo forward Jack Eichel had an assist and has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in a six-game point streak. … The Senators lead the NHL with 14 shorthanded goals. Namestnikov is tied with teammate Chris Tierney and Kevin Hayes of the Philadelphia Flyers for the NHL lead with four shorthanded goal. ... Tkachuk has seven points (two goals, five assists) in a four-game point streak.

What's next

Sabres:At the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; ATTSN-PT, MSG-B, NHL.TV)
Senators:Host the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; TSN5, RDS2, TSN3, NHL.TV)