Amadio Scores Late Winner As Senators Edge Sabres

Two goals in five minutes change everything

Buffalo carried a 1-0 lead deep into the third period, and Ottawa had spent most of the night chasing a game that felt just out of reach. Krebs gave the Sabres the lead at 14:00 of the second period, when Tage Thompson’s shot from above the slot deflected off his leg in front and past Ersson on the blocker side. It was Krebs’ first goal of the season, and for a long stretch it looked like it might be enough.

Pinto changed that at 11:33 of the third. Ellis stopped Philip Tomasino’s shot, but the rebound popped out in front, and Pinto swept a backhand past the goaltender’s left skate to tie the game 1-1. The goal came shortly after an offensive zone faceoff win, a sequence built on a strong forecheck that forced Buffalo into an icing and kept the Sabres pinned in their own end.

Five minutes later, with overtime looming, Fabian Zetterlund led a rush up ice and dropped the puck for Stutzle inside the offensive zone. Stutzle sent a cross-ice feed across, and Amadio buried a top corner one-timer with 3:09 remaining. It was Amadio’s fifth goal of the season, per the game box score, and it rewarded a player Ellis had robbed on a point blank chance in the opening minutes of the game.

Ersson and the penalty kill hold the line

Ottawa does not complete this comeback without its goaltender and its penalty kill. Ersson finished with 24 saves and made a flurry of stops after Pinto tied the game, as Buffalo pushed back with odd man rush after odd man rush. The Senators’ penalty kill also withstood a pair of Buffalo power plays in the third period, and both teams finished 0 for 2 with the man advantage on the night.

Buffalo will feel it gave this one away. The Sabres were 3-0-0 when leading after 40 minutes, carried that lead into the final eight minutes, and still came away with no standings points at all in a divisional game. A poorly timed pinch at the blue line sprung the winning 3-on-2 rush, and a late 6-on-5 push came up empty.

“Unbelievable save he made.”

Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said that about Ellis’s early pad save on Amadio, in postgame comments reported by Buffalo Hockey Beat. Ellis deserved a better result for a 28 save night, but Ottawa’s finish was clinical once the chances finally came.

A road trip ends the right way

The win closed a tough five game road trip at 2-2-1 for Ottawa, a respectable return from a stretch that began with losses and long travel through California. Ending it with a comeback win over a divisional rival, on the road, after trailing into the final period, is the kind of result that travels home well. The Senators did it without Tyler Kleven and Ridly Greig, both missing on the night, and with new lines rolled out in Buffalo.

For Buffalo, the loss opens a different conversation. The Sabres had won three straight, all on the road in California, and returned home to begin a four game homestand in front of a capacity crowd. Losing a third period lead at home to a team in their own division stings precisely because these are the points that decide playoff races in April, even when they are dropped in early November.

Ottawa now returns home for a three game homestand, starting Saturday, November 7 against the Utah Mammoth. Buffalo stays home and hosts the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday, November 6, in the second game of its homestand. The Senators leave Buffalo at 10-6-1 with momentum. The Sabres leave their own building knowing a game they controlled for 48 minutes slipped away in five.