Senators 3, Sabres 2

OTTAWA - Daniel Alfredsson scored a pair of first-period goals and Martin Gerber made 35 saves for his NHL-leading 12th win in the Ottawa Senators' 3-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night.

Alfredsson, who played his 800th regular-season game, opened the scoring with his 14th goal 6:32 in. The Ottawa captain got his second goal of the period - his 15th of the season - on a power play at 18:53.

Shean Donovan scored in the second period for the Senators, who improved to 15-2-0.

Jochen Hecht and Derek Roy scored for Buffalo, which has lost three straight, and six of seven (1-5-1).

Ryan Miller stopped 31 shots for the Sabres.

The Sabres never led, extending a dubious streak to eight games. Buffalo, which has two overtime wins in its past eight games, has gone 487 minutes, 35 seconds without holding a lead in regulation since a 4-2 win in Florida on Oct. 26.

Roy drew the Sabres within one 11:27 into the third when he scored on a 5-on-3 advantage.

Senators centre Jason Spezza returned to the lineup after missing six games because of a groin injury.

Roy missed a wonderful opportunity to give the Sabres an early lead when he hit the right post 3:20 into the opening period as he put a shot at a wide-open net right across the goalmouth after receiving Thomas Vanek's 2-on-1 pass from the right side.

Hecht got the Sabres even 58 seconds after Alfredsson gave Ottawa a brief early lead when he batted a loose puck past Gerber for his fifth goal at 7:30.

Alfredsson restored the Senators' lead with 1:07 left in the first and Donovan extended the margin to 3-1 with his third goal 16:48 into the second.

Notes: Sabres C Tim Connolly missed his fourth straight game because of a strained abdominal muscle ... Senators RW Chris Neil played his 400th regular-season game.