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NHL Game Summary - Ottawa at Buffalo



(Wednesday, December 26th)

Final Score: Ottawa 5, Buffalo 3

Buffalo, NY (Sports Network) - Dany Heatley had a goal and two assists, and Martin Gerber made 29 saves as Ottawa held off Buffalo, 5-3, ending the Sabres' six-game winning streak.

Wade Redden had a goal and a helper for the Senators, who have won eight of their last 10 games. Antoine Vermette, Mike Fisher and Daniel Alfredsson also tallied in the victory. Jason Spezza added two assists.

Jochen Hecht, Brian Campbell and Adam Mair all scored for Buffalo, which had been riding its longest win streak since opening last season with 10 straight victories.

"We were on a good roll, we had won six games in a row," said Mair. "Tonight we wanted to keep that going. We have a tough stretch here, most of January we're on the road.

"I thought when we skate well we're able to keep up with that team (the Senators). They have a couple of injuries on the back end. We can play with any team in this league."

Ryan Miller made 19 saves and Tim Connolly had two helpers in defeat.

Both sides played to a scoreless first period, with the Sens holding a slight edge in shots, 10-9.

Ottawa then broke the stalemate early in the second when Vermette backhanded the puck past Miller from the high slot. The disc tore a path through traffic and beat the netminder under the glove to the far side at 1:42.

The Sabres answered right back, as Hecht had a weak wrister dribble between the pads of Gerber less than two minutes later.

Redden's power-play tally put the Sens up 2-1 a little past the eight-minute mark, while Fisher then tapped home a loose puck from the top of the crease with 1:51 left to boost Ottawa to a two-goal edge.

The Senators continued to pour it on, as Alfredsson lit the lamp just 26 seconds into the third period, making it a 4-1 game.

On the power play, Campbell ripped a shot from the point that sailed under the crossbar, helping the Sabres cut the margin to 4-2, while Mair made it a one- goal game when he took a pass at the mid-slot and sent it through the five- hole of Gerber with 7:37 left in the contest.

Ottawa's defense buckled down the rest of the way, limiting Buffalo's pressure in the final minutes before Heatley added an empty-net goal with 0.5 seconds remaining.

"With these two teams' history, we really respect each other," said Heatley. "It doesn't matter who's going good or how the past couple weeks have been going, whether they're hot or not we know it's going to be a tough game."

Game Notes

Redden's goal was the 100th of his NHL career...Spezza assisted on Redden's marker and has 10 goals and 21 helpers in his last 17 games...Campbell scored his first goal in 24 games for Buffalo...The Sabres fell to 11-7-0 at home this season...Ottawa improved to 13-3-2 as the visiting team...Ottawa holds a 3-2 edge in the season series. The Sens have also taken seven of the last 10 meetings overall.

12/26 22:44:49 ET


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