The Sabres snuff the Senators

Thompson seals it as Ottawa's late surge falls short

Twenty seconds of panic

At 18:58 of the 3rd, Mathieu Joseph snapped one home and a four-goal Buffalo Sabres lead had shrunk to one. Twenty seconds earlier, Josh Norris had scored on the power play. On qualification night at Canadian Tire Centre, the loser's flame would go out before the Gauntlet had really begun. Neither club had any Gauntlet history, and they had finished 20th and 21st in the league last season. Nothing separated them except this game.

Skinner strikes twice

Jeff Skinner opened it with a snap shot at 8:06 of the 1st, and Zemgus Girgensons tipped in another 3:14 later. Skinner struck again with a wrister at 4:04 of the 2nd. Jakob Chychrun, a defenseman, answered for the Ottawa Senators at 13:14, but Alex Tuch tipped in a power-play goal at 17:08. Tage Thompson tipped in the game-winner at 18:48. Anton Forsberg had stopped 13 of 18, and Joonas Korpisalo replaced him and stopped all 5 he faced.

Thompson empties the net

The 3rd turned nasty. Tuch and Brady Tkachuk fought at 16:50, and Tkachuk was gone with an instigator penalty and a game misconduct. Vladimir Tarasenko had already scored a wrister at 15:35, and then came Norris and Joseph. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 34 saves on 38 shots. At 19:37, Thompson fired a wrister into the empty net. The Sabres burn on, and the Senators are snuffed, one of two candles to go dark on qualification night, with 30 still lit.