Ottawa, Ontario (WGR Sports Radio 550) - In their final meeting of the regular season, the Buffalo Sabres took care of business against their division rival Ottawa Senators, earning a 5-2 victory at Canadian Tire Centre and completing the four-game season series sweep.
Eight-and-a-half minutes into the opening period, Alex Tuch stayed white-hot, as he located a loose puck in front of the Ottawa net and gave the Sabres the 1-0 lead. The tally extended Tuch's goal-scoring streak to four games, where has has netted five goals along the way.
Shortly thereafter, Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin unloaded a slapshot from the point that beat old teammate Linus Ullmark for a 2-0 Buffalo edge.
The Sabres opened the lead up to three in the second period of play.
A dazzling passing play between Tage Thompson and JJ Peterka opened up the middle of the ice for Thompson to bury his 39th goal of the season.
Ottawa responded 70 seconds later and finally solved James Reimer.
Veteran forward Claude Giroux scored from the slot to make it a 3-1 contest.
Halfway through the third period of play, Sabres forward Peyton Krebs played the role of thief to extend the Sabres' lead to 4-1. Former Sabres forward Dylan Cozens tried to pass East-to-West through the neutral zone, but Krebs was there to intercept the puck and skate the other direction for an important goal.
Just like Giroux's earlier goal, though, the Senators answered fast to keep themselves within striking distance, as Ottawa defenseman Jake Sanderson made it 4-2 just 23 seconds later.
With 2:39 left in regulation, though, Ryan McLeod put the game on ice. Despite facing a 6-on-4 situation with Bowen Byram serving a minor penalty and Ottawa pulling Ullmark for the extra attacker, McLeod nailed the vacated net to seal the 5-2 victory.
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SCORING RECAP
First Period:
BUF: 8:38 - Alex Tuch (32) (Mattias Samuelsson, Jason Zucker); 11:51 - Rasmus Dahlin (14) (Jack Quinn)
OTT: NONE
Second Period:
BUF: 12:36 - Tage Thompson (39) (JJ Peterka, Rasmus Dahlin)
OTT: 13:46 - Claude Giroux (15) (Tyler Kleven, Linus Ullmark)
Third Period:
BUF: 9:59 - Peyton Krebs (9) (Unassisted); 17:21 - Ryan McLeod (19) SH-ENG (Alex Tuch, Connor Clifton)
OTT: 10:22 - Jake Sanderson (9) (Michael Amadio, Artem Zub)
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Three Stars of the Game:
1.) James Reimer - BUF
2.) Rasmus Dahlin - BUF
3.) Claude Giroux - OTT
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What's next:
The Sabres are off until Saturday, April 5 when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning back at KeyBank Center. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. with Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on the call.