Marian Gaborik leads the Senators in his Ottawa debut.
By Callum Fraser / NHL.com Correspondent
OTTAWA, ONT. — Marian Gaborik scored and had an assist on the tying third-period goal in his debut with the Ottawa Senators, a 3-2 overtime win against the Buffalo Sabres at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday.
Mike Hoffman scored 1:13 into overtime for the Senators (20-27-9), who had lost two straight.
Derick Brassard scored, Matt Duchene had three assists, and Craig Anderson made 23 saves for Ottawa.
Scott Wilson and Evan Rodrigues scored, and Robin Lehner made 33 saves for the Sabres (17-30-11).
Hoffman one-timed a pass from Erik Karlsson, who had two assists.
Gaborik passed to Brassard in the left circle, where he tied the game 2-2 with 30 seconds left in the third period.
Gaborik deflected a point shot from Karlsson past a screened Lehner to tie it 1-1 at 5:15 of the third.
The forward was acquired by Ottawa on Tuesday in a trade that sent defenseman Dion Phaneuf to the Los Angeles Kings.
Wilson gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 6:31 of the first period when he took a drop pass from Johan Larsson and beat Anderson with a wrist shot.
The Sabres took a 2-1 lead at 15:31 of the third period when Rodrigues got a pass from Kyle Okposo on the rush and took a wrist shot that went off the post and in.
Buffalo’s next game is Saturday night at home against the Los Angeles Kings.