Shane Pinto cut it to 5-3 just 40 seconds into the third period, redirecting Spence’s shot through his own legs and over the left shoulder of Lyon.
Lars Eller pulled the Senators to within 5-4 at 2:15 after Nick Cousins stole the puck that Lyon had left for Dahlin along the goal line.
However, McLeod responded 17 seconds later to push it to 6-4. He skated into a drop pass from Tuch on a 2-on-2 rush and scored over Merilainen’s right arm from the left circle.
“We just got back to our game,” Ottawa coach Travis Green said. “There were probably two or three looser plays in the second period and they happen to go down and score. They get the short-handed goal, a bit of a lucky bounce, the first goal’s a lucky bounce, another power-play goal goes off two sticks and off a body. I like that we battled back, but then you give up a goal that you’d like to have back.”
Quinn scored 45 seconds after McLeod to make it 7-4. He took a pass from Peyton Krebs on a 2-on-1, cut back across the grain and slipped a backhand past Merilainen’s right pad.
Jiri Kulich added an empty-net goal at 16:44 for the 8-4 final.
“[The Senators] obviously play with a lot of speed and a lot of energy, so I think we did a good job of matching them,” McLeod said. “Obviously, they had a little pushback. … It’s those key moments that you need to either get a puck in, get a puck out, or score one, and fortunately we did tonight.”
Quinn gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead on the power play at 8:01 of the first period. His one-timer from the slot went wide of the net, but it ricocheted off the end glass and caromed back toward the crease, where it hit Merilainen in the back before crossing the goal line.
Tim Stutzle tied it 1-1 at 16:09 with a redirection of Fabian Zetterlund‘s one-timer from the point.
Sanderson gave the Senators a 2-1 lead at 3:58 of the second period, scoring a power-play goal following a scramble in the crease. Buffalo challenged the play for goaltender interference, but the call stood after a video review.
“We just kept playing,” Tuch said. “I think we just played with a lot more speed tonight. We were a lot more assertive, honestly. We were just trying to have fun out there. I thought everyone was smiling, hooting and hollering. A lot of energy. It was contagious. You feel it on the bench even when stuff was going wrong, guys were taking accountability and they were going out there trying to be better the next shift.”
NOTES: Senators forward Drake Batherson was minus-3 in 17:27 of ice time in his season debut. He missed the first three games while recovering from an upper-body injury he sustained during the first week of training camp. … The Sabres have won five straight against the Senators, their longest active streak against a single opponent. … Zucker is the 10th player in Sabres history to score two power-play goals in a span of two minutes or less. … Buffalo scored four goals on special teams for the first time since March 31, 2018 (four power-play goals). … Sabres forward Justin Danforth left the game at 2:45 of the second period with a lower-body injury.