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Zibanejad, Stone complete Senators’ rally in 3-2 win

OTTAWA (AP) — Mika Zibanejad and Mark Stone scored third-period goals as the Ottawa Senators rallied to defeat the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 on Friday.

Zibanejad scored 1:34 into the third period to tie the game 2-2 after he took a pass from Bobby Ryan and beat Anders Lindback in the Buffalo net. Stone put the Senators ahead for the first time less than two minutes later, scoring on a rebound after Marc Methot was stopped by Lindback on a wraparound attempt.

Eric Karlsson also scored for the Senators as they won for the seventh time in their past eight games, all started by rookie Andrew Hammond, who improved to 7-0-1 to start his NHL career.

Hammond made 24 saves and helped Ottawa pull within three points of Boston for the second wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference. Hammond became just the second goaltender in the past 76 years to allow two or fewer goals in his first eight career NHL starts.

Phil Varone and Tyler Ennis found the net for the Sabres and Lindback stopped 34 shots. Buffalo has lost three straight games and has the NHL’s worst record.

The Sabres pulled Lindback with a little more than a minute to play in the game, but they were unable to get a shot on goal.

The Senators spotted Buffalo’s 2-0 lead after the first period, It took just 26 seconds into the second for Ottawa to get on the board.

Karlsson took a point shot that deflected off Sabres defenseman Zach Bogosian and past Lindback.

Buffalo’s first goal came as Varone raced into the Ottawa zone and took a back-handed swat at a loose puck that was bouncing toward Hammond. Later in the opening session, Ennis took a shot from the bottom of the faceoff circle that beat Hammond short side through a screen.

NOTES: The Senators play the second of a three-game homestand Sunday when they host Calgary. Buffalo travels to Washington in the fourth of a five-game road trip. … Jared Cowen and Colin Greening were scratches for the Senators, while the Sabres scratched Zac Dalpe, Tyson Strachan and Chad Johnson. … The last time the Sabres won in Ottawa was March 10, 2012. … Ennis’ first-period goal was his 200th career point.

This article was from The Associated Press and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.