Peterka has 3 points, Sabres snap 3-game slide with win against Senators

BUFFALO -- JJ Peterka had two goals and an assist for the Buffalo Sabres in a 5-1 win against the Ottawa Senators at KeyBank Center on Tuesday.

Bowen Byram scored twice, and Tage Thompson had a goal and an assist for the Sabres (5-7-1), who had lost three straight. Rasmus Dahlin and Ryan McLeod each had two assists, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 37 saves.

“I think just overall, whole team, I think every line today was just going,” Peterka said. “I think every line brought a lot of energy. Just great to see after the last three losses that we respond like that.”

Ridly Greig scored, and Linus Ullmark made 29 saves for the Senators (6-6-0), who are 1-5-0 on the road.

“It was a 2-1 game headed into the third and I didn't think we played our best, but we were still in the game,” Ottawa forward Josh Norris said. “Give up two quick ones and it’s 4-1 and we’re chasing the game. We haven't been great on the road, and we’ve got to find a way to start winning some games on the road.”

Peterka gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead on the power play at 6:37 of the first period. Jason Zucker collected a loose puck behind the net and sent a short pass to Peterka along the goal line by the right post, where he banked it off Ullmark’s left shoulder into the net.

Byram made it 2-0 when he snapped a one-timer from the right circle short side 17 seconds into the second period.

“I just saw that he had a little time and space, and thought I’d try to sneak back side,” Byram said. “He made an, obviously, unreal pass to me. That one felt good.”

Greig poked in his own rebound five-hole on Luukkonen to cut it to 2-1 at 7:31.

Byram extended it to 3-1 with a shot from the blue line that squeaked under Ullmark’s left arm 21 seconds into the third period.

Thompson scored 16 seconds later to make it 4-1. Alex Tuch's shot from the doorstep deflected in off the shoulder of Thompson, who had been pushed down in the crease and into Ullmark. The Senators challenged for goaltender interference, but the goal stood after a video review determined that Jake Sanderson pushed Thompson into Ullmark.

“I think ‘Tuchy’ was nice enough to pass it off my shoulder while I was laying on the ice. So, I owe him a dinner or something,” Thompson said. “Very unselfish of him. But I think it just starts with simplicity again. … You need to be going to the net; you need to be getting dirty. Usually when you do that, you get rewarded. I thought we, as a group, we had a commitment that we were going to the net tonight. Just continue that moving forward.”

Peterka one-timed a cross-ice seam pass from Thompson from the right circle past a screened Ullmark on the power play at 12:08 for the 5-1 final.

“They deserved to win,” Senators coach Travis Green said. “They played better than us, special teams. We lost a special team battle. I thought we weren't strong enough on the puck in certain moments of the game. Sometimes you get what you deserve, and we got it. We got what we deserved tonight.”

NOTES: Senators forward Brady Tkachuk extended his point streak to five games (four goals, four assists) with an assist on Greig’s goal. … Dahlin’s assist on Byram’s goal was his 300th NHL point. He’s the third defenseman in Sabres history to reach the mark after Phil Housley and Mike Ramsey. … Dahlin had his 65th career multipoint game, second most in Buffalo history behind Housley (124). … Forward Zach Benson played 10:14 in his return to the lineup after missing five games with a lower-body injury. … Buffalo scratched defensemen Mattias Samuelsson and Henri Jokiharju, each of whom had played in every game. “I want those two guys to raise their standard of play. I need their standard to be a lot higher,” coach Lindy Ruff said.