The Ottawa Senators avoided a third consecutive setback, rallying for a 6-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night.

Anton Volchenkov notched three points, including the decisive goal with 1:56 remaining, as Ottawa erased a 3-1 deficit in the final eight minutes.

Senators forward Cory Stillman (61) tests Ryan Miller in Tuesday's 6-3 triumph.
(David Duprey/Associated Press)

Volchenkov broke a 3-3 deadlock with his first goal of the season on a slapshot from the point.

"He is our sniper," Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson quipped.  

Alfredsson and Antoine Vermette added insurance goals, both unassisted, at 18:20 and 19:59 of the third period, respectively.

"Everyone showed character," Alfredsson said. "Going forward, we want to show what kind of team we are going to be going into the playoffs."

Alfredsson finished with two goals and an assist, Vermette had a goal and an assist, and Christoph Schubert and Dean McAmmond scored the other goals for the Senators (42-28-7), losers in their previous two games and three in four.

"It was a good third period for us," McAmmond said. "It showed flashes of what you saw last year, when we were outskating and outworking teams."

Martin Gerber made 29 saves as Ottawa pulled even with the New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference standings, five points behind the front-running Montreal Canadiens.

The Devils lost 2-0 to the second-place Pittsburgh Penguins.

Derek Roy scored twice, Jason Pominville had the other goal for the Sabres (35-30-11), who fell five points behind the Boston Bruins for the eight and final playoff berth.

Boston beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-2.

"We had them where we wanted them," Pominville said. "It is points that we're letting slip."

"Maybe it would have been better if it was 2-1 and we just grind it out," said Sabres netminder Ryan Miller, who yielded five goals on 30 shots.

Roy and Pominville scored 25 seconds apart to put Buffalo ahead 3-1 early in the third period, but McAmmond sparked the rally with a short-handed goal at the 12:02 mark.

"Getting that goal was huge," Alfredsson said. "That got us going."

Alfredsson tied it 3-3 on a wrist shot from the slot at 14:02, and later fed Volchenkov at the point for the go-ahead goal at 18:04.

Sixteen seconds after that, Alfredsson potted his second goal of the period and 40th overall to make it 5-3.

Vermette completed the scoring with his 20th, an empty-netter with one second remaining.

With files from the Canadian Press