BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Evander Kane, Kyle Okposo and Benoit Pouliot scored to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.
Buffalo has points in its last four games (2-0-2) after losing 11 of 12 games (1-9-2). Robin Lehner made 24 saves.
Cody Ceci and Derick Brassard scored for the Senators (9-13-7), who have lost 12 of their past 13 games. Mike Condon made 23 saves.
Following a scoreless and uneventful first period, the Sabres (8-17-6) broke things open early in the second period with two goals in a span of 1:12.
Pouliot opened the scoring on an excellent one-man effort 4:13 into the second. Pouliot skated around Brassard before sliding a backhand pass through Condon's legs. It was Pouliot's eighth goal of the season.
Okposo made it 2-0 at 5:25 of the second. Center Ryan O'Reilly spotted Okposo cutting into the slot and fed him with a backhand pass from the outside. Okposo buried a one-timer for his fifth goal of the year.
Kane made it 3-0 with 7:27 remaining in the second on a power-play goal. With Zack Smith in the penalty box for hooking, Rasmus Ristolainen spotted Kane inside the right circle for a one-timer and Kane put home his team-best 14th goal of the season.
Ceci got the Senators on the board 6:43 into the third period on his own rebound opportunity. After his initial shot from the slot hit the post, Ceci buried the rebound for his third goal of the year.
Brassard cut Buffalo's lead to one with 51.4 seconds remaining on a long shot from the right point.
A pivotal moment in the game came midway through the second period when the Senators had a two-man advantage for 58 seconds. Ottawa had several quality chances on net but all were rebuffed by Lehner and the Sabres' defense.
NOTES: RW Hudson Fasching, D Nathan Beaulieu and D Victor Antipin were scratched for the Sabres. ... D Thomas Chabot was scratched for the Senators. ... This was the first of four meetings this season. The next meeting takes place Feb. 14 in Ottawa. ... The Sabres have points in nine straight meetings against the Senators (7-0-2) for the first time in the all-time series between both teams. ... G Robin Lehner was a second-round pick (46th overall) of the Senators in 2009. He played in 86 games for Ottawa before being traded to the Sabres in 2015.
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