*Sorry for the lack of photos! Hoping to get permission eventually.*
The Senators dominated the Sabres at the KeyBank Center on Wednesday, March 27th for a huge 6-2 victory. In the first period, they scored five goals to already have a big lead and finished it off in the third with six goals total. Shane Pinto recorded a goal and three assists, and Joonas Korpisalo made a total of 34 saves for Ottawa. Ukko-Pekka Luukonen allowed four on nine shots before being replaced by Devon Levi, who made 31 saves for Buffalo in relief. This had been the Senators' third straight win, and they hope to keep it up for their next game on Thursday against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Senators lineup against the Sabres:
Tkachuk - Pinto - Batherson
Crookshank - Stutzle - Giroux
Kubalik - Greig - Joseph
Katchouk - Kastelic - Kelly
Sanderson - Zub
Chabot - Brannstrom
Chychrun - Bernard-Docker
Korpisalo
Forsberg
Sabres lineup against the Senators:
Peterka - Thompson - Tuch
Benson - Cozens - Quinn
Greenway - Krebs - Skinner
Robinson - Girgensons - Olofsson
Dahlin - Byram
Power - Jokiharju
Bryson - Clifton
Luukonen
Levi
Early into the first period at 17:23, Artem Zub began the scoring to give Ottawa the 1-0 lead. After a shot from Boris Katchouk had been redirected by Mark Kestelic, Zub jammed the loose puck in between Ukko-Pekka Luukonen's pads. Katchouk scored to make it 2-0 soon after the goal by Zub for his sixth goal of the season. He tipped in a shot from Parker Kelly at the top of the right face-off circle and past Luukonen. Pushing it to 3-0 at 13:59, Drake Batherson recorded his 26th of the season and his third in the past four games when he put the puck around Luukonen's stretched pad after he picked it up as it was loose in front, shifting it from his forehand to backhand. Jakob Chychrun sent his 12th goal of the season and his third in the past two games past Luukonen with a slap shot. With 49 seconds remaining in the opening 20, Brady Tkachuk made it a 5-0 game during a 4-on-4 when he finished a touch pass from Thomas Chabot at the left post.
JJ Peterka makes the attempt to begin a possible comeback for Buffalo when he pulls them within 5-1 early into the middle frame at 17:06. Alex Tuch's shot rebounded to Peterka in the slot, and he then went on to put a wrist shot past Joonas Korpisalo. This had been Peterka's 25th goal of the season. Later on in the second, Connor Clifton buried the puck with a wrister from the slot after he carried it through the offensive zone to beat Korpisalo.
Shane Pinto hunted down that four-point game when he struck the empty net at 3:17 of the third for the 6-2 final. This was Pinto's eighth goal of the season and his 29th NHL career goal.
Shane Pinto on the Senators' victory and Joonas Korpisalo: "I thought we came out strong in there - If you want to win, you need to balance and we had that tonight. It's going to be big for the back-to-back tomorrow to have that same thing. So, we're going to need all guys on board," - "When you have a goalie playing like that, I think it just instills confidence in the group. We've been trusting him the last couple of games and he's been super dialed for us, and it's been resulting in some wins for us."
Notes:
- Brady Tkachuk, Boris Katchouk, Jakob Chychrun, and Drake Batherson each recorded a goal and an assist.
- This is the first time the Senators have scored five goals in the first period since January 8th, 2004. The first four goals in an 8:49 span had been the fastest four by any team this season.
- Thomas Chabot left the game at 3:31 of the third with an undisclosed injury.
- Alex Tuch extended his assist streak to six games, which is the longest streak of his NHL career (seven assists)... JJ Peterka recorded four goals during a three-game goal streak.
- Jack Quinn played 15:41, having one shot on goal in his return after missing 23 games due to sustaining a lower-body injury.
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