OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) - The Ottawa Senators were hoping one day Robin Lehner would be their No. 1 goalie. On Saturday night, he came back to town and beat them as a member of the Buffalo Sabres.
Acquired from Ottawa before last season, Lehner made 31 saves in Buffalo’s 2-1 comeback victory.
“That’s the big reason why we won,” Sabres forward Sam Reinhart said about Lehner’s play. “He was the one guy for the full 60 minutes that gave it his all and was really the big reason why we won that game.”
Kyle Okposo and Reinhart scored in the third period to help the Sabres rally for their fourth win in five games.
Okposo tied it early in the period when he tipped a point shot from Jake McCabe past Craig Anderson.
The Sabres took their first lead when Reinhart took advantage of a turnover at the side of the Ottawa goal. Anderson stopped the first shot, but Reinhart was able to jam a loose puck in between the skate of Anderson and the post at 8:22.
“It was kind of an in-tight play and kind of lucky the way it worked out and was able to come back and be on the right side of the goalie,” Reinhart said.
The Senators had an opportunity to tie it with a four-minute power play after Dmitry Kulikov got a high stick into the face of Bobby Ryan, but were unable to produce.
Mike Hoffman scored for Ottawa, and Anderson made 30 saves.
“I think the game could have went either way and I think both teams played pretty good and had chances but Lehner did play really well,” Hoffman said. “We were generating chances, which is, at the end of the day, what we want to do. Some days they’re going to go in, unfortunately this was one of those days that things didn’t go our way.”
Notes: The Sabres have won back-to-back games against the Senators for the first time in five years. … Sabres forward William Carrier played his first NHL game.
UP NEXT:
The Sabres will conclude their two-game road swing against Boston on Monday night before returning home for a rematch with the Senators on Wednesday night.
The Senators are at Nashville on Tuesday night.
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