Pittsburgh came out of the gates firing on all cylinders, as the Penguins defeated the Buffalo Sabres, 5-2, on Wednesday night.
Evan Rodrigues and Kris Letang quickly gave the Pens a 2-0 lead in the first period, while John Marino and Zach Aston-Reese added two more in the second. Aston-Reese’s goal was set up by Frederick Gaudreau, who stole the puck off Buffalo’s Taylor Hall and set up the short-handed opportunity. Sidney Crosby iced the game in the final period with his 13th goal of the season. The Penguin defense shut out Buffalo in the second period and allowed only one goal in the first and third frames.
After the game, head coach Mike Sullivan said that he was confident that his team wouldn’t surrender the lead.
Sullivan also highlighted that, with the so many players on the shelf due to injury, it was good to see more players stepping up to contribute.
Some of those contributors were Gaudreau, Aston-Reese and Mark Jankowski.
While the Pens won on the ice, they did lose forward Kasperi Kapanen, who left in the second period with a lower body injury. Coach Sullivan said after the game that he is still being evaluated and more details will be released on Thursday.
Pittsburgh and Buffalo meet again on Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena to complete the two-game set. Airtime on U92.5 FM and the U92 Sports Channel is 6 p.m.
Comments