Pittsburgh, Pa. (WGR 550) - For the second-consecutive night, the Buffalo Sabres found themselves on the wrong side of a preseason decision. This time, it was the Pittsburgh Penguins emerging victorious on Thursday night by a final score of 3-1 at PPG Paints Arena.
After a scoreless opening period of play, the Penguins opened the scoring at the 11:27 mark of the second when a trio of veteran forwards went to work on a power play. Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust helped Rickard Rakell score shortly off a faceoff and Pittsburgh claimed the 1-0 edge.
The Sabres didn't let the Penguins take their lead to the third, though.
Tage Thompson had other ideas, as he got in behind the defense and tucked his breakaway past the leg of goalie Tristan Jarry to even the score at 1-1 with less than a minute remaining in the period.
Pittsburgh grabbed back the lead just before the halfway point of the third period of play. Forward Drew O'Connor re-directed a puck in front of Sabres goalie Eric Comrie, who had next to no chance to react to the play.
Once again, up by a goal, the Penguins shut the door on the Sabres inside the final minute of play. A play broken up at the blue line ended up in the empty Buffalo net, as O'Connor netted his second goal of the night.
With the loss, the Sabres dropped to 2-2-0 in the preseason.
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GAME RECAP:
Scoring Summary:
First Period:
BUF: NONE
PIT: NONE
Second Period:
BUF: 19:19 - Tage Thompson (1) (Jordan Greenway)
PIT: 11:27 - Rickard Rakell (1) PPG (Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust)
Third Period:
BUF: NONE
PIT: 8:48 - Drew O'Connor (1) (Lars Eller, Marcus Pettersson); 19:06 - Drew O'Connor (2) ENG (Noel Acciari)
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Penalty Summary:
First Period:
BUF: 8:53 - Casey Mittelstadt (Tripping - 2 min.)
PIT: NONE
Second Period:
BUF: 9:11 - Zach Benson (Tripping - 2 min.)
PIT: 4:31 - Bryan Rust (Hooking - 2 min.); 8:34 - Drew O'Connor (Holding - 2 min.)
Third Period:
BUF: 5:13 - Eric Comrie (Delay of Game - 2 min.)
PIT: 3:56 - Erik Karlsson (Tripping - 2 min.); 14:10 - Matt Nieto (Tripping - 2 min.)
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Losi and Gangi Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Drew O'Connor - PIT
2.) Rickard Rakell - PIT
3.) Tage Thompson - BUF
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What's next:
The Sabres return home to host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday at KeyBank Center in Downtown Buffalo. Faceoff is set for 3 p.m. ET and can be heard on the radio home of the Sabres - WGR Sports Radio 550.