Pittsburgh, Pa. (WGR Sports Radio 550/WBEN) - The Buffalo Sabres registered every type of goal on Thursday except a penalty shot in a 5-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. The win marks Buffalo's fifth-straight win coming out of the Olympic break.
The Sabres opened the scoring exactly 12 minutes into first period while on the penalty kill.
While Pittsburgh boasted the NHL's third-best power play percentage coming into the night, Ryan McLeod found a dent in the armor. He knocked a puck away from defenseman Kris Letang at the blue line, shot down the ice on a breakaway and slid a puck through Penguins goalie Arturs Silovs.
It was McLeod's league-leading fifth shorthanded goal of the season.
Just 2:48 later, the Penguins responded with a shorthanded marker of their own, as forward Bryan Rust's power move around Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made it a 1-1 contest.
Things remained tied until 4:10 into the middle stanza. At that point, the Sabres began to bust the game wide-open with three goals by period's end.
Buffalo found itself on the power play due to a dangerous retaliation from Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin. He received a five-minute major and a game misconduct for a slash of Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin, who was hit up in the head and neck area.
Josh Norris was able to cash in on that man advantage, cleaning up some loose change in front of the Penguins net.
Pittsburgh challenged the play for goaltender interference, but were unsuccessful, giving Buffalo a brief period of 5-on-3 hockey.
Just 2:18 later, now with the Sabres shorthanded again, Buffalo found the back of the net once again down a man, this one courtesy of a re-direct from Alex Tuch. The original shot was taken by defenseman Owen Power, aand the winger got a piece of it as the Sabres kept the pressure applied in enemy territory.
Around the halfway point of the second period, Power then wired his second goal in as many games this week. It was his sixth goal of the season, as this goal came while at 5-on-5, the first of its kind all night.
It was all over but the shouting come the third period of play.
Defenseman Mattias Samuelsson added to Buffalo's goal total with an empty-net tally with 3:07 left in regulation, closing out the scoring in a 5-1 victory in Pittsburgh.
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SCORING RECAP
First Period:
BUF: 12:00 - Ryan McLeod (12) SHG (Unassisted)
PIT: 14:48 - Bryan Rust (21) SHG (Ben Kindel)
Second Period:
BUF: 4:10 - Josh Norris (9) PPG (Josh Doan, Bowen Byram); 6:18 - Alex Tuch (25) SHG (Owen Power, Tage Thompson); 10:30 - Owen Power (6) (Josh Norris, Noah Ostlund)
PIT: NONE
Third Period:
BUF: 16:53 - Mattias Samuelsson (12) ENG (Unassisted)
PIT: NONE
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BlueStar Home Services Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Owen Power - BUF
2.) Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen - BUF
3.) Bryan Rust - PIT
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What's next:
The NHL Trade Deadline is set for 3 p.m. EST on Friday, but the Sabres will have the day off for game action.
Buffalo will go for six wins in-a-row on Saturday night when they host the Nashville Predators to start a five-game homestand. Puck drop at KeyBank Center is set for 5:30 p.m. with Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on the call.