Tage Thompson’s early third-period goal lifted the Buffalo Sabres (29-35-6) to a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators (37-28-5) on Tuesday night at KeyBank Center.
His 35th of the season came when Zach Benson set him up with a backhand pass from behind the net, allowing Thompson to sneak it past Anton Forsberg.
Jacob Bernard-Docker, recently acquired from Ottawa, scored his first goal with Buffalo, and James Reimer stopped 31 shots as the Sabres improved to 4-2-0 in their last six games. The win also marked Lindy Ruff’s 600th behind the Buffalo bench.
Brady Tkachuk and David Perron found the net for Ottawa, which has dropped three of its last four after a strong 6-0-1 stretch. Forsberg made 21 saves in the loss.
Tkachuk opened the scoring on a power-play tap-in at 1:35 of the first, but Jack Quinn answered late in the period with a one-timer from JJ Peterka’s cross-slot feed. Perron put Ottawa back on top at 7:39 of the second, but Bernard-Docker evened it up with a wrist shot at 12:59 before Thompson’s winner sealed the game.
The Sabres will be back in action on Thursday when they host the Pittsburgh Penguins at 7 p.m.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].