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Alfredsson, Senators' third-period explosion doom Sabres

Mar 26, 2008 - 4:08 AM BUFFALO, New York (Ticker) -- Derek Roy and the Buffalo Sabres were cruising along before the floodgates opened.

Captain Daniel Alfredsson scored twice in the third period and Dean McAmmond ignited a five-goal burst in the session as the Ottawa Senators posted a 6-3 win over the Sabres on Tuesday.

Defenseman Anton Volchenkov had a goal and an assist for the Senators, who scored five goals in the final 7:40.

McAmmond began the outburst with a shorthanded tally and Antoine Vermette capped it for Ottawa (42-28-7), which snapped a two-game skid and pulled even in points with New Jersey (42-27-7) for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. The Devils suffered a 2-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.

Roy scored twice and captain Jason Pominville also tallied for Buffalo (35-30-11), which fell five points behind Boston (38-28-10) for the final playoff spot in the East. The Bruins posted a 6-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"After the (shorthanded goal), they were able to generate some momentum," Pominville said. "They put pucks deep and were able to score some big goals. We had them where we wanted to. It's points that we're letting slip, it's points we're going to need from here on out that we're not going to have."

Gerber stopped 29 shots for the Senators, who rebounded from a 7-5 loss to the conference-leading Montreal Canadiens on Monday. In that game, Ottawa scored four times in the third before eventually falling.

"It obviously feels really good that we showed the character," Alfredsson said. "We did start to build on something in the third period against Montreal. We played really well in the first period (Tuesday).

"(Buffalo) played really well in the second. When McAmmond scores a shorthanded goal, that gives (us) a lot of momentum. They have the power play and we get the goal."

Ryan Miller stopped 26 shots for the Sabres, who were 0-for-4 on the power play. Buffalo seemed to take control of the game as Roy and Pominville tallied 25 seconds apart early in the third period to open a 3-1 lead.

Roy scored his second of the game and 31st of the season by knocking home a rebound at 2:38, while Pominville batted in the puck from the left of the crease at 3:03.

However, things took a turn for the worse quickly. McAmmond scored the Senators' league-leading 15th shorthander on a 2-on-1 rush with 7:40 left and Alfredsson tied the game at 3-3 with a wrist shot from the slot that beat Miller with 5:58 remaining.

"It seemed to give us a little spark," McAmmond said. "It was just a scramble behind the net. We were able to get possession of it. I was coming up through the slot (and) they had too many guys down low and it ended up 2-on-1. I just went to the net, stick on the ice."

"I know we ended up getting caught," Pominville said. "I'm not sure where we were on the ice. All I remember was carrying it in and throwing it deep. I may have been back and got caught."

Things continued to deteriorate as Volchenkov unleashed a slap shot from the point that sailed over Miller and off the crossbar with 1:56 left. Alfredsson made it 5-3 just 16 seconds later and Vermette added an empty-netter with one second remaining for the final margin.

"With 10 minutes left in the third - you're up 3-1 (and) you're on a power play - you have a lot of opportunities to put them out," Buffalo left wing Alex Kotalik said. "We didn't do it and we got caught on our power play. It kind of kick-started them. After that, we were just watching them scoring goals."

"I think it's flashes of what you saw last year," McAmmond said. "The third period the Senators had last year where we were outskating teams, outworking teams. So I think it was a good third period for us."

The Senators jumped out to a 1-0 lead on defenseman Christoph Schubert's eighth goal of the season at 11:54 of the first.