3 Things: Sabres 5, Penguins 2

Here are the three biggest takeaways from the Penguins' 5-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres at PPG Paints Arena.

1. Falling behind
It's never a good omen when a team scores 14 seconds into a game against you. It's definitely worse when you fall behind 2-0 just 6:48 into a contest. But going down 3-0 halfway through the first period against any team is a difficult hole out of which to climb.
And that's the position the Penguins found themselves in against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon.
Pittsburgh called a timeout and played much better the rest of the way, but they lost the game in the opening 11 minutes.
The Penguins are coming off of a disappointing 4-0 loss to Toronto on Thursday night, and couple with this take back-to-back Ls for the first time since Nov. 29-30 - a near three-month stretch.
2. Malkin roars
Evgeni Malkin took a slashing penalty halfway through the first period that would lead to a Buffalo power-play goal and 3-0 Sabres lead. Malkin made amends in the second period with a great individual effort (plus a little help) that lead to Pittsburgh's opening goal of the contest.
The Penguins had a great shift in the offensive zone, but Buffalo collected the puck and was about to exit the zone. Malkin, on a backcheck, hit Henri Jokiharju's stick as he tried an outlet pass. Forward Jared McCann knocked Jokiharju's pass back into the offensive zone at the blue line. Malkin retrieved the puck, cut to the slot in between three Sabres and snapped the puck into the goal blocker side.

Malkin added a late goal for his second tally of the afternoon, the only two Pittsburgh goals.

Malkin was really engaged in the game. He played physical, even took a roughing penalty, came to the defense of a teammate (Patric Hornqvist) and, of course, got on the scoresheet. Malkin now has an 11-game scoring streak against Buffalo for 16 points (6G-10A). He also has 53 career points (18G-35A) in 41 games against Buffalo.
3. Looking ahead
Despite the consecutive losses, the Penguins are still 23-8-1 in their past 31 games. And are still neck-and-neck for the Metro Division lead (setting up a showdown with Washington Sunday afternoon).