OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Anton Forsberg made 29 saves and the Ottawa Senators snapped a five-game home losing streak with a 4-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night.
Alex DeBrincat, Austin Watson, Brady Tkachuk scored for the Senators, and Tim Stutzle added an empty-net goal.
Tage Thompson scored for the Sabres, who lost their seventh straight game.
Eric Comrie started in net for Buffalo, but was unable to finish the game after stopping 22 of 24 shots. Craig Anderson, the longtime former Senators goaltender, came in midway through the second period and finished with 14 saves.
With a combined 14 minor penalties, it was difficult for either team to generate any real momentum.
Trailing 2-1 to start the third, Buffalo pushed for the equalizer with JJ Peterka hitting the crossbar early in the period. But, DeBrincat made it 3-1 at 14:21 into the period with his fifth of the season.
After going 0 for 5 on the power play in the first period, the Sabres capitalized and scored their sixth power play to tie the game 1-1. Thompson fired a shot from the faceoff circle for his team-leading 12th goal of the season 6:41 into the second.
The Senators regained the lead just over three minutes later when Tkachuk put a backhanded shot past Comrie on the power play.
Moments before the goal, Comrie had a collision with Ottawa’s Mathieu Joseph. He remained in goal, but was eventually replaced by Anderson.
Ottawa opened the scoring 9:45 into the first period with Watson scoring his 50th career goal.
ANDERSON'S RETURN
It was Craig Anderson’s first time back at Canadian Tire Centre since leaving as an unrestricted free agent in 2020. Anderson holds the Senators franchise record for most regular-season wins (202) and games played (435) by a goaltender.
NOTES: Ottawa defenceman Artem Zub practiced in a regular jersey for the first time since sustaining an upper-body injury Oct. 27. Mark Kastelic was a healthy scratch and replaced with Dylan Gambrell. Claude Giroux is on a nine-game point streak (six goals, seven assists). Buffalo’s Tage Thompson is riding a six-game point streak (five goals, three assists. Anders Bjork made his season debut for the Sabres.
UP NEXT
Buffalo: At Toronto on Saturday in the second game of a three-game trip.
Ottawa: Host New Jersey Devils on Saturday in the finale of a three-game homestand.
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