Third period comebacks all the rage

OTTAWA The Ottawa Senators have experienced third-period woes a few times already this season, and coach Guy Boucher was thinking about that on Thursday as his club nearly gave up a three-goal lead.

Craig Anderson had to make 46 saves, 21 of them in the third period as Buffalo poured on the pressure, but the Senators were able to hold on to beat the Sabres 4-2 in the first meeting of a home-andhome series.

“In the third period I kind of had it in the back of my mind that if they did score early we would be fragile and that’s exactly how it was,” said Boucher.

“It was tough for us to sustain what we did for two periods, for three periods. It’s a confidence issue there, it’s an experience issue there, but at the end the guys pushed hard, Andy was outstanding.”

Ryan Dzingel, Dylan DeMelo, Colin White and Bobby Ryan, into an empty net, scored for the Senators (55-2), who got two assists apiece from Thomas Chabot and Mark Stone.

Jason Pominville, playing in his 1,000th NHL game, and Jeff Skinner had the goals for the Sabres (6-5-2) while Carter Hutton made 28 saves.

The teams meet again in Buffalo for a Saturday matinee.

FLAMES 6, AVALANCHE 5

CALGARY — Mark Giordano had a goal and two assists as the Calgary Flames scored five times in the third period for a thrilling comeback victory over the Colorado Avalanche.

Tied 4-4, Giordano scored the go-ahead goal at 13:47 when he jumped up into the rush, took a pass from Mikael Backlund, and snapped a shot over the blocker of Semyon Varlamov.

Backlund, Elias Lindholm, Sean Monahan, James Neal and Michael Frolik also scored for the Flames. Matthew Tkachuk added three assists.

OILERS 4, BLACKHAWKS 0

EDMONTON — Mikko Koskinen made 40 saves for his first career NHL shutout and Drake Caggiula scored a pair of goals as the Edmonton Oilers beat the Chicago Blackhawks.

BLUES 5, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3

ST. LOUIS — Oskar Sundqvist scored two rare goals to lead the St. Louis Blues past the Vegas Golden Knights.

RED WINGS 4, DEVILS 3

DETROIT — Justin Abdelkader scored a shorthanded goal midway through the third period and Trevor Daley put the puck in an empty net for another shorthanded score in the final minute, helping the Detroit Red Wings beat the New Jersey Devils to extend their seasonhigh winning streak to three games.

ISLANDERS 3, PENGUINS 2 (SO)

NEW YORK — Josh Bailey scored a short-handed goal in the second period and then the only goal in a shootout to lift the New York Islanders over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

1 CANADIENS 6, CAPITALS 4

MONTREAL — Max Domi scored with 21 seconds left in the game and Jesperi Kotkaniemi notched his first two career NHL goals as the Montreal Canadiens came from behind to defeat the Washington Capitals.

PREDATORS 4, LIGHTNING

TAMPA, Fla. — Pekka Rinne made 42 saves in his return after missing five games with an injury, and the Nashville Predators beat the Tampa Bay Lightning.

STARS 2, MAPLE LEAFS 1

TORONTO — Dallas backup goalie Anton Khudobin made 30 saves as the Stars heaped more home misery on Toronto by defeating the Maple Leafs.