The Buffalo Sabres secured a 5-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday at PPG Paints Arena. Goals for the Sabres came from Ryan McLeod, Josh Norris, Alex Tuch, Owen Power, and Mattias Samuelsson. Both Norris and Power recorded multi-point games with assists in addition to their goals.
This win marks the fifth consecutive victory for Buffalo since returning from the Olympic break. The team currently holds second place in the Atlantic Division with 80 points and has posted a strong record of 17 wins, two losses, and one overtime loss in their last 20 road games.
Buffalo scored two shorthanded goals during the game. McLeod’s goal was his league-leading fifth shorthanded tally of the season. Tuch also scored while shorthanded, although his goal came as five Sabres skaters were on the ice during a delayed penalty against Pittsburgh.
Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 27 out of 28 shots for Buffalo. Since the Olympic break, he is undefeated with three wins and has gone 10-2-1 in his last 13 decisions.
The scoring summary began with McLeod’s unassisted shorthanded goal in the first period. Bryan Rust tied it up for Pittsburgh later in that period. In the second period, Norris put Buffalo ahead on a power play goal assisted by Josh Doan and Bowen Byram. Shortly after, Tuch extended the lead with help from Power and Tage Thompson while shorthanded. Power added another goal midway through the second period off assists from Norris and Noah Ostlund. Samuelsson closed out scoring with an empty-netter late in the third period.
Buffalo will return home to start a five-game homestand on Saturday against the Nashville Predators at KeyBank Center.
