Sabres Defeat Penguins 4-2

Staring at the possibility of their first two-game losing streak, the Sabres came out and played a well-disciplined game against Pittsubrgh and emerged with a 4-2 victory. The game saw the return of winger Max Afinogenov, but also was the first of a few games to be played without center Derek Roy, who is lost for two weeks with a bruised hand.

Afinogenov put his mark on the game early on, as the Sabres had an early five-on-three advantage. As the first penalty expired, Daniel Briere gained possession inside the left face-off circle. He fed a cross-ice pass down low to Afinogenov, who was just above the goal-line to the left of Pens goalie Jocelyn Thibault. As Afinogenov drifted back away from the net, he fired a hard wrister along the ice that just snuck between the pipe and Thibault’s outstretched pad, giving the Sabres a 1-0 lead.

Pittsburgh also had a five-on-three in the first, but the Sabres kept them off the board as they dominated play in the first period and skated to the locker room with a 1-0 lead.

In the second, the Penguins came out firing, and really took the play to Buffalo. The results failed to go their way, however, when Buffalo got on the board at the nine-minute mark. A wild scramble in front of the Pittsburgh net saw Buffalo miss a couple point-blank chances, but then Thomas Vanek ended up with the puck and his back to the goalie on Thibault’s right side. Vanek spun and fired, and the shot bounced off multiple Penguins before finding it’s way to the back of the net.

Buffalo then took a stranglehold on the game when Chris Drury got a powerplay tally with 8-1/2 minutes remaining in the second to give the Sabres a 3-0 lead. Drury was in his usual position on the goal line to the right of Thibault when a Jason Pominville rebound headed his way. Drury drifted slightly to the front of the net and fired the puck, which took all kinds of crazy bounces off the goalie before hiting the back of the net.

With the game in hand, Buffalo played a more relaxed defensive game from that point on, and Crosby caught them before the period ended. Recchi and Crosby broke out two-on-two, and Recchi fed a pass to Crosby on the left wing. Campbell was with Crosby, but was turned the wrong way and was facing the goalie as he tried to turn. By the time he gained proper position, Crosby was ready to shoot, and he beat a poorly positioned Biron to the short side. I’m not sure why Marty wasn’t back further in the net. Either he was cheating on a pass back to Recchi, which would have been foolish because he was well covered, plus the shooter was Crosby, or he was too slow, or he lost his exact position. Regardless, Pittsburgh went into the room down 3-1.

The third period played out just as Buffalo would have liked, with the Sabres generally in control. Even when Crosby pulled the Pens to within one thanks to a goal when the Pens net was empty, my heartrate didn’t tick up much. And the Sabres calmly got that back when Drury flipped a puck at the Pens net that was deflected, only to have it come right to Kotalik off the endboards, whereupon it was calmly deposited into the net for a 4-2 win.

The Sabres travel to Ottawa tonight and hope to have Ryan Miller back between the pipes. The will also have Mike Funk instead of Michael card at the point.