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Alfredsson, Foligno help Senators veto Sabres

Mar 8, 2009 - 5:42 AM OTTAWA (Ticker) -- Captain Daniel Alfredsson and Nick Foligno each scored two goals as the Ottawa Senators used a third-period surge to cruise past the Buffalo Sabres, 6-3, on Saturday.

Chris Kelly and defenseman Chris Campoli recorded a goal and an assist apiece and Mike Fisher and blue-liner Ryan Shannon each notched two assists for the Senators, who have won two in a row following a three-game losing streak.

"It was huge to get that win," Foligno said. "Obviously, we're both fighting for our lives, but they're in a better situation than us. It's still nice to get the win tonight. The guys played awesome and we really came at them from the drop of the puck.

"Everyone contributed tonight and that makes a huge difference on our team."

Drew Stafford, All-Star Thomas Vanek and Jochen Hecht all netted power-play goals for Buffalo, which had outscored its opponents, 10-2, in its previous two contests.

"We've got to win games if we want to stick around for the playoffs," Hecht said. "If you lose a game when all the teams around you are winning, you lose ground in points and fall out of the playoffs."

After Alfredsson and Stafford traded goals on the man advantage in the first period, Kelly netted his eighth tally of the season midway through the second.

"The first period, they were better than us," Alfredsson said. "We didn't get off to a good start, but in the second and third we play really well. We cycled the puck and got some chances off that obviously.

"Scoring the third goal after they tied it up late in the second kind of made the difference."

Vanek forged a 2-2 tie with 1:45 remaining in the session, but Foligno restored Ottawa's one-goal bulge 73 seconds later.

"We had a lot of opportunities to put them away," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "Instead of getting momentum after the goal we scored late in the second, we give them momentum.

"There were momentum shifts, especially after some of the calls that were made. We did a good job late in the second to score a goal and tie it up. Then they come right back. It wasn't a 6-3 game. We made too many careless plays, like not putting it up the wall."

Hecht leveled the contest once again on the power play before the Senators began their spurt against Patrick Lalime, who made 30 saves.

Campoli gave Ottawa a lead they would not relinquish at 9:35 of the third and Foligno and Alfredsson tallied in a 81-second span late in the session to secure the win.

"It was a hard fought game," Campoli said. "They're a tough team over there and they're battling for a playoff spot. We knew they were going to come out hard and they did what we expected.

"We found a way to win by scoring timely goals. Any time you get big saves from your goalie and generate good offense, it gives you a good chance to win."