The Ottawa Senators sure have the Buffalo Sabres' number and they sure have some daunting

ones going.

Ten wins in a row overall. Eight in a row against the Sabres the last two years. A 13-point

deficit in the Northeast Division reduced to just three points in three weeks.

Wednesday's 4-2 win in HSBC Arena extended the Sens' franchise-record winning streak and

was a telltale sign of their resiliency. When the Sabres scored two goals 27 seconds apart in

the third period to wipe out a 2-0 deficit, a lot of visitors would have crumbled.

Not this team. Not now.

"When you're winning games, you have more confidence," said center Jason Spezza, who scored

Ottawa's first two goals. "Even though they tied it up, we started pressing more. Sometimes

with a two-goal lead, you have a tendency to sit back and we were a little guilty of that."

"It shows we can bend but don't break," added goaltender Brian Elliott. "We're not getting

too down on ourselves when something happens like that."

Eventually — as they have every meeting the last 13 months — the Senators found

a way to confound Buffalo again.

"I don't know what it is. Sometimes that just happens," said captain Daniel Alfredsson,

whose two goals in the final minute provided the winning margin. "We've been struggling

against Boston and New Jersey. That's the way it goes. I don't know if it's a mental thing or

systems teams play or what.

"Buffalo played a really good game today. I don't think we were ready for the pressure they

put in the first period. We were really on our heels."

Alfredsson's game-winner with 59.7 seconds left was a tap-in from the edge of the crease

after a terrific pass from defenseman Erik Karlsson.

"Karlsson made a great pass to me on the back door," Alfredsson said. "I got lost because I

came off the bench as the play was developing, skated straight through and didn't really go to

the net. I saw Erik was going to get the puck so I tried to go to the net on the far side and

he made a perfect pass."

Alfredsson has 75 points in 74 career games against Buffalo. Four of his 38 career goals

against the Sabres have come this year. Spezza has 50 points in 38 games versus Buffalo (18

goals, 20 assists).

Spezza's two goals extended his goal streak to seven straight games (the NHL only

recognizes the last five because Spezza missed 20 games due to a knee injury). Elliott made 36

saves to improve to 7-0 against Buffalo in his career.

"He's the reason we won," Spezza said. "We had a horrible first period. They outplayed us

and he was solid. Things are just going right for us. It's a matter of keeping it going."

"You have to think it's more coincidence than anything to have that long a run against

them," Spezza said. "We've been catching them at the right time and we know we have to be

ready. It's a great rivalry arguably our best rivalry with any team. A lot of us played

against each other in the American League in the lockout and it's just carried on. It seems

we've played every year in the playoffs, 6-8 times in the regular season. They're exciting

games."

. . .

The Sabres flipped their defensive pairs, with the big move being Steve Montador going back

into the press box as a healthy scratch and Andrej Sekera taking his place.

Sekera had sat out 15 of the last 16 games but was solid when he was inserted into the

lineup last week against New Jersey.

"We've got to get him back into the lineup," coach Lindy Ruff said. "He's a guy that we

need to use a little bit more often."

Sekera's third-period goal Wednesday was his third of the season and his first since Dec.

14 at Montreal. Montador, meanwhile, was minus-2 in Monday's loss at Pittsburgh and is minus-7

the last four games.

"A couple of opportunities, odd-numbered situations that I think he's had a little bit of a

tougher time," Ruff said. "But he's made those mistakes on the aggressive side."

Ruff did not simply move Sekera in next to Toni Lydman. Instead, he broke up the

longstanding pair of Craig Rivet and Chris Butler and put Butler with Sekera. Lydman skated

with Rivet while Tyler Myers and Henrik Tallinder stayed intact as the No. 1 pair.

. . .

The Sabres thought they had opened the scoring in the first period when Jochen Hecht's shot

trickled down Elliott's back into the net before getting fished out by Chris Phillips.

Officials on the ice ruled it no goal and replays were inconclusive.

There was no overhead camera shot and Sabres officials said that's because the HD camera

above the goal line has been inoperative for several months.

The team said the camera is NHL property and has not been repaired as the Sabres have

requested. An analog camera that does not feed into the television broadcast was reviewed.