Byram scored twice, JJ Peterka had two goals and an assist and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 37 saves.

Ridly Greig converted his own rebound in cutting Buffalo’s lead to 2-1 with 7:31 left in the second period. Linus Ullmark made 29 saves in dropping to 1-4 in his past five starts.

Buffalo went up 3-1 on Byram’s second goal 21 seconds into the third period. The defenseman’s shot from inside the blue line sneaked through Ullmark, with the puck rolling down the goalie’s pad, dropping into the crease and trickling across the line. Thompson scored when he crashed the net, was knocked over by defender Jake Sanderson and was lying in the crease when Alex Tuch’s shot went in off his shoulder.

Takeaways

Buffalo defenseman Bowen Byram goes is congratulated by teammates after scoring in the second period. AP Photo

Senators: Ottawa’s best start to a season since 2016-17 hit another road speed bump. The Senators have lost four straight road games and are 1-5 overall.

Sabres: Coach Lindy Ruff’s impatience over sloppy play led to defensemen Mattias Samuelsson and Henri Jokiharju being healthy scratches. The message got through with Buffalo getting off to a fast start and didn’t back down when things turned physical.

Key moment

With Buffalo up 1-0, Luukkonen got his blocker up to stop Noah Gregor attempting to convert Josh Norris’ pass on a two-man breakaway late in the first period.

Key stat

301 — Career points for Rasmus Dahlin in becoming Buffalo’s third defenseman to reach 300, joining Phil Housley (558) and Mike Ramsey (329). With 234 career assists, Dahlin passed Doug Bodger (233) and tied Alexei Zhitnick for third on the team list.

Up next

The Senators host the New York Islanders on Thursday. The Sabres travel to play the New York Rangers on Thursday.