Woolley's OT goal keeps Sabres streak alive

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Jason Woolley finally got the puck to bounce his way.

Sneaking in on left wing, Woolley snapped a rebound into the open side with 38.8 seconds left in overtime to give the Buffalo Sabres a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Friday.

It was a vindicating moment for Woolley, a defenseman who failed to tie up Senators forward Chris Neil on the game's opening goal. Woolley also was robbed by a Patrick Lalime glove save earlier in overtime.

"It's tough sometimes. The first shift you step on and get scored on," Woolley said. "But you can't get down on yourself. It's not always going to be an easy night for you. I'm glad I kept battling because it paid off."

Miroslav Satan and Erik Rasmussen also scored for the Sabres, who improved to 3-0-2 in their past five games, marking their first five-game unbeaten stretch.

Magnus Arvedson, who tied the game 2:04 into the third period, also scored for the Senators, who had a 3-0-3 streak snapped. Ottawa is winless in its past six trips to Buffalo, dating to Dec. 30, 1998.

Woolley's goal came with Ottawa's Mike Fisher off for tripping J.P. Dumont. Chris Gratton kept the puck in at the point and fed Stu Barnes, whose 30-foot shot was blocked by Lalime.

The rebound caromed into the left circle where Woolley snapped a shot over the prone goalie.

It was Woolley's second career overtime goal.

Lalime admitted he had no chance on Woolley's goal. He instead blamed the loss on the Senators' second-period letdown in which Buffalo pulled ahead 2-1 on goals scored 64 seconds apart.

"There's always a period in which we don't play our best," Lalime said. "Sometimes it costs us. We were lucky to come back tonight."

Despite earning at least a point in each of their last nine games, the Senators have done it recently by coming from behind.

Wednesday against Columbus, Ottawa overcame 2-0 and 4-3 deficits to pull out a 6-4 victory over the Blue Jackets. On Monday, Daniel Alfredsson scored with 41 seconds left in a 4-4 tie at Tampa Bay.

"We can play much better," Arvedson said. "After how that game looked, we should be happy with one point."

The Sabres aren't getting too excited, either.

"We're tentatively happy about it," said Barnes, noting Buffalo has two important games left -- both against the New Jersey Devils -- before the start of next week's Olympic break. "It would be real easy to get caught up now, saying 'Oh five in a row.' I think the big thing is making sure we stay focused."

Sabres goalie Martin Biron faced 20 shots, but he extended his string of strong performances. Biron improved to 8-2-3 in his past 13 starts, a stretch in which he's allowed three or more goals only twice.

NOTES: Satan's goal came on the power play, Buffalo's first in five games. It snapped an 0-for-21 drought, one short of matching a season low. . . . Immediately following the game, Satan boarded team owner John Rigas' jet to travel to Salt Lake City, where he will represent Slovakia in its Olympic preliminary-round game against Germany on Saturday. Satan will rejoin the Sabres for Sunday's game at New Jersey. . . . Senators right winger Marian Hossa and defenseman Zdeno Chara are also playing three games in three days. Saturday, they're in Ottawa for the Senators' game against Detroit. Sunday, they're in Salt Lake City for Slovakia's game against Latvia. . . . Senators defenseman Curtis Leschyshyn (flu) missed his second game.