En route to his first career four-goal game, Jack Eichel scored the go-ahead tally with 7:47 left in regulation as the Buffalo Sabres ended a six-game losing streak with their 4-2 win over the visiting Ottawa Senators on Saturday night.
Ottawa forward and ex-Sabre Tyler Ennis tied the game just 2:01 into the third period, deflecting a Ron Hainsey shot from the point to make it 2-2. But Eichel came through again, blasting a shot on the short side and past Senators goaltender Craig Anderson (28 saves) to break the deadlock.
Eichel, who added an empty-netter with 14 seconds left, topped his career best and only NHL hat trick against Carolina on Dec. 15, 2017. This performance ended Buffalo's 0-4-2 stretch. Eichel has 12 goals on the season, and 10 points in his last three home games versus Ottawa.
Anthony Duclair also scored for the Senators, who had won two straight and four of their previous five. They've lost three in a row at Buffalo, which got 21 saves from Linus Ullmark.
The Sabres outshot the visitors 13-5 in the first period, but the game was scoreless heading into the initial intermission. However, the Sabres were finally rewarded 1:28 into the second when Eichel took advantage of an Ottawa turnover, then surged to eventually beat Anderson on the glove side to make it 1-0.
The Senators, though, tied things with 13:56 left in the second on the power play. Duclair took a perfect slot feed from Logan Brown to drill home his seventh goal of the season. Eichel, however, was not done.
Some 3 1/2 minutes later, the Sabres star drove through the slot and beat Anderson again to give Buffalo a 2-1 advantage. Sam Reinhart, who assisted on Eichel's first two goals, has three goals and three assists in the last four contests.
Buffalo veteran Kyle Okposo left the game following a collision while making a line change.
--Field Level Media
Ottawa | Buffalo | |
Anthony Duclair 1 | Points | Jack Eichel 4 |
Anthony Duclair 1 | Goals | Jack Eichel 4 |
Logan Brown 1 | Assists | Sam Reinhart 2 |
Anthony Duclair 1 | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Craig Anderson .903 | Save Percentage | Linus Ullmark .913 |
Craig Anderson 28 | Saves | Linus Ullmark 21 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Ottawa | 23 | 2 | 1-3 | 2-2 | 4 | 33 |
Buffalo | 32 | 4 | 0-2 | 2-3 | 6 | 30 |