OTTAWA - Craig Anderson stopped 40 shots as the Ottawa Senators defeated the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 on Thursday night.

Bobby Ryan and Zack Smith scored for the Senators (13-14-6), who have picked up points in their last four games.

Tyler Ennis scored the lone goal for the Sabres (7-23-2). Ryan Miller faced 32 shots.

This was the second of back-to-back games between the two teams with the Sabres winning Tuesday 2-1 in a shootout.

Anderson was solid in the third with the Senators holding a 2-1 lead. He made a big save on Mark Pysyk early in the period and another on Drew Stafford late in the period to preserve the lead. He was called upon yet again in the final two minutes as Milan Michalek took a holding penalty.

These two teams have a history of playing a less than exciting style of hockey against one another, which could be the reason for the second smallest crowd of the season with just 15,578 on hand.

The second period was a struggle for both teams. Ottawa continued to have trouble in their own end, but were fortunate as the Buffalo offence had its own problems.

Anderson was also able to make up for any glaring mistakes.

Smith's second-period goal at the six-minute mark held up as the winner.

Kyle Turris made a nice pass and Smith was the benefactor as the puck bounced off a skate to his stick and he swept it past Miller.

Ottawa nearly gave up the first goal — yet again — but caught a break when John Scott was called for goaltender interference early in the game.

The Senators managed to make the most of the opportunity and scored first as Ryan picked up his 15th of the season midway through the period. Turris made a cross-ice pass to Ryan, who was left all alone in front.

The Sabres made it 1-1 on a power-play wraparound goal by Ennis late in the first.

The Senators will look to extend their point streak Saturday afternoon when they take on the Los Angeles Kings.

Notes: Ottawa native D Cody Ceci played his first NHL game Thursday as he was an emergency recall. D Joe Corvo played in his 700th NHL game and D Jared Cowen sat out the first of his two-game suspension. The Senators also recalled C Jean-Gabriel Pageau. D Marc Methot was out with the flu and LW Matt Kassian was a healthy scratch for the Senators. … The Sabres were without top-scoring C Cody Hodgson, who has an undisclosed injury. D Brayden McNabb was a healthy scratch.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2013