NHL

Ottawa Senators at Buffalo Sabres

· National Hockey League
Final
2 - 3

Thompson scores go-ahead goal, Sabres coach Ruff reaches 600 career wins in 3-2 win over Senators

Ottawa Senators vs. Buffalo Sabres: Game Highlights

Jack Quinn and Jacob Bernard-Docker also scored for Buffalo, and James Reimer stopped 30 shots in winning two straight starts for the first time this season. Ruff is in the first season of his second stint in Buffalo, and improved his record with the franchise to 600-467-90 with 78 ties.

Ruff trails only Al Arbor, who won 740 games with the New York Islanders.

Brady Tkachuk and David Perron scored power-play goals for the Senators. Anton Forsberg stopped 21 shots in an outing the Senators blew two one-goal leads.

Takeaways Senators: Squandered a chance against the Eastern Conference’s last-place team to further secure their bid to end a seven-year playoff drought. Ottawa began the day seventh in the East, and four points ahead of eighth-place Montreal.

Sabres: Continue their role as playoff spoilers two days after a 5-3 win at the Western Conference-leading Winnipeg Jets.

Key moment With the game tied at 2, Zach Benson set up Thompson’s goal by avoiding a check from Fabian Zetterlund and maintaining control of the puck behind Ottawa’s net. He then fed a pass in front to Thompson, who beat Forsberg through the legs.

Key stat Ottawa’s Dylan Cozens assisted on Tkachuk’s opening goal, registering a point in eight of nine games (three goals, five assists) since the Senators acquired him in a trade with Buffalo.

Up next Senators close a three-game road swing at Detroit on Thursday, while Sabres host Pittsburgh on Thursday.

Regular Season Series

BUF leads series 3-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 1:35 Brady Tkachuk Goal (29) Wrist Shot, assists: Drake Batherson (37), Dylan Cozens (25)
Goal 1st Period 18:31 Jack Quinn Goal (11) Snap Shot, assists: JJ Peterka (33), Ryan McLeod (26)
Goal 2nd Period 7:39 David Perron Goal (7) Wrist Shot, assists: Ridly Greig (15), Claude Giroux (32)
Goal 2nd Period 12:59 Jacob Bernard-Docker Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: Tyson Kozak (1), Peyton Krebs (13)
Goal 3rd Period 1:23 Tage Thompson Goal (35) Wrist Shot, assists: Zach Benson (14), Rasmus Dahlin (42)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/ott.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originOTT https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/buf.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originBUF
13 Blocked Shots 18
25 Hits 16
5 Takeaways 3
32 Shots 24
2 Power Play Goals 0
4 Power Play Opportunities 1
50.0 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
39 Faceoffs Won 16
70.9 Faceoff Win Percent 29.1
15 Giveaways 19
1 Total Penalties 4
2 Penalty Minutes 8
Buffalo Sabres Buffalo Sabres Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Owen Power, D Out Apr 19
Beck Malenstyn, LW Out Apr 17
Josh Norris, C Out Apr 15
Jordan Greenway, LW Out Apr 12
Ottawa Senators Ottawa Senators Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Hayden Hodgson, RW Out Apr 22

Game Information

KeyBank Center

Location: Buffalo, NY
Attendance: 13,955 | Capacity:

2024-25 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Toronto 52 26 108 4
Tampa Bay 47 27 102 8
Florida 47 31 98 4
Ottawa 45 30 97 7
Montreal 40 31 91 11
Detroit 39 35 86 8
Buffalo 36 39 79 7
Boston 33 39 76 10
Full Standings