Shane Pinto shone brightly with a goal and three assists as Ottawa Senators stormed to a commanding 6-2 victory over Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night, propelled by a five-goal outburst in the first period.
The scoring frenzy began early, with Artem Zub finding the net just 2 minutes and 37 seconds into the game. By the 8-minute and 49-second mark of the opening period, the Senators had built an imposing 4-0 lead, capped off by Pinto’s empty-net goal. Brady Tkachuk, Boris Katchouk, Jakob Chychrun, and Drake Batherson all contributed with a goal and an assist each.
Joonas Korpisalo stood tall in the Ottawa net, making 34 saves to secure his fifth win in his last six starts.
Buffalo managed to get on the board with goals from JJ Peterka and Connor Clifton, but their efforts were not enough to overcome the Senators’ dominant performance. Both teams, residing in the Atlantic Division, find themselves virtually eliminated from playoff contention.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was pulled from the net after conceding four goals on nine shots, with Devon Levi taking over and allowing just one goal on 32 shots to close out the game.