Senators surrender 4 straight goals in season-opening loss to Sabres

Rasmus Dahlin and rookie JJ Peterka scored 2:54 apart in the second period, and the Sabres rallied to beat the Ottawa Senators 4-1 in the teams' season opener on Thursday night in Buffalo.

Craig Anderson stopped 35 shots and Victor Olofsson sealed the victory by scoring two empty-net goals in the final 42 seconds.

The Sabres began carrying over the momentum from closing last season showing signs of jelling in winning 16 of their final 27 games. Though Buffalo set an NHL record for missing the playoffs for an 11th straight season, the fifth-place finish in the Atlantic Division was its best since placing third in 2011-12.

Anton Forsberg stopped 32 shots in opening the season as the Senators starter in place of Cam Talbot, who is expected to miss another four to six weeks with an upper-body injury.

With Bills star quarterback Josh Allen in attendance and wearing a Sabres' No. 89 Alex Tuch jersey, Peterka scored his first career NHL goal to tie the score 4:31 into the second period by completing a give-and-go with linemate Dylan Cozens on a rush up the right wing.

Dahlin then did much of the hefty lifting in scoring the go-ahead goal. Dahlin started the play by gaining the Senators blue line before dishing a pass and heading to the front of the net. The defenseman was left there alone when he was set up by a pass from Peyton Krebs from behind the Ottawa net.

WATCH | Sabres' Dahlin scores eventual winner against Senators:

The 41-year-old Anderson, who re-signed with Buffalo after contemplating retirement this summer, picked up his 309th career victory, which ranks fifth among American-born goalies.

Anderson's best save came with 7:40 remaining, when he dived and poked the puck off of the stick of Tim Stutzle driving in from