Sabres score 3 unanswered goals to complete comeback win over Penguins

Captain Kyle Okposo had one message for the Sabres as his team entered the locker room during the second intermission down 2-0 to the Pittsburgh Penguins: attack.

Okposo felt the team had been overthinking the game and wanted to see focus shift to pressuring the puck and attacking with speed. The group listened and responded with three unanswered goals in the third period to defeat Pittsburgh 3-2 inside KeyBank Center on Friday.

"I thought we played probably our best period of the year,” Okposo said. “We just attacked. We just have been a little bit too much on our heels and just thinking a little bit too much for the past few weeks, and I just think we came out and attacked. It was a ton of fun to watch. We just pressure, pressure, pressure. Every guy wanted the puck, wanted to be a guy to make a play, and that’s how we needed to play.”

The Sabres found themselves down by two in the second after a pair of turnovers in their own end led to goals by Sidney Crosby and Lars Eller. Despite generating 20 shots of their own in the first two periods of play, Buffalo was unable to find the scoresheet until the third.

It was Buffalo’s top power-play unit that sparked the comeback as Alex Tuch fed Jeff Skinner, who was all alone in front of the Pittsburgh net to beat goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic on the power play 5:13 into the final period.

Tuch shared that the group was inspired by their captain’s message and leadership and came together to commit to their game.

“Okie said some things that I think everyone wanted to run through a brick wall after he spoke,” Tuch said. “He’s the type of guy that—it doesn’t matter what he says—everyone in here is going to listen. He leads by example.”

Okposo opened the game with a pair of scoring chances at point-blank range and had recorded four shots before he was finally rewarded on his fifth shot of the game, just over five minutes after Skinner’s goal.

He fired the puck toward the net, watching it deflect off defenseman Erik Karlsson’s stick and into the net for his first tally of the season and the game-tying goal.

“Obviously it’s tough when you’re going through a goal drought like he has this season, but it just shows how resilient he is and our group is and like I said, he leads by example and he’s the ultimate leader, ultimate teammate,” Tuch said. "It was really good to see him get one.”

The Sabres kept their foot on the gas pedal, outshooting the Penguins 14-11 in the third. It was Tuch and Skinner who connected once again to give Buffalo the 3-2 lead.

Skinner fought for the puck behind the Penguins’ net and found Tuch in the slot for his sixth goal of the season, the eventual game-winning goal with 2:44 remaining.

The group continued to play aggressive in the final minutes, which saw Dylan Cozens outskate Karlsson to negate an icing call and draw a holding penalty with 26 seconds left to secure the victory.

Following the win, Sabres coach Don Granato let Okposo have the final word with the team to end the night.

“We were on the attack. We were aggressive. We were fearless. We went after them,” Granato said. "I said it after the game, I turned it right back over to Okie. I thought he did a great job between the second and third, and postgame we went right back to him for further comments because it was a great job. It was a leadership move but a collective effort. We have lots and lots of leaders in the room that took lots of initiative.”

Here’s more from the Sabres’ win.

1. The Sabres played with 11 forwards and seven defensemen against the Penguins as they were without forward Jordan Greenway.

Zemgus Girgensons exited the game midway through the second period after logging 6:35 of ice time, meaning Buffalo had to manage with just 10 forwards the remainder of the game.

Tuch (25:01) and Casey Mittelstadt (24:01) led all Sabres forwards in ice time.

Granato did not yet have an update on Greenway or Girgensons but said he would expect the Sabres to recall a forward on Saturday.

2. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 31 of 33 shots in his eighth start of the season to improve to 5-3-1 in 2023-24.

The 24-year-old has recorded a .934 save percentage in his last five games.

“I’m just trying to do my best to keep the game as a two-goal game,” Luukkonen said. “Once it goes to three, that makes it really hard to come from behind. But I think we played really, really good in the third.”

3. Skinner scored his team-leading ninth goal of the season as the Sabres converted on the power play for the third game in a row.

4. Forward Victor Olofsson tallied a pair of assists for the second consecutive game after recording the secondary assist on the Skinner and Okposo goals.

Mittelstadt and defenseman Rasmus Dahlin each added assists of their own to extend their point streaks to three games and four games, respectively.

Dahlin has six points (1+5) in his last four games while Mittelstadt (0+3) has recorded an assist in three consecutive contests.

5. Rookie forward Zach Benson played in his 10th NHL game, playing 14:32 while logging time on both the power play and penalty kill.

Benson found out from general manager Kevyn Adams Friday morning that he will remain with the Sabres on the first year of his entry-level contract rather than return to his junior team.

UP NEXT

The Sabres visit the New Jersey Devils on Saturday to open a four-game road trip. Coverage on MSG/MSG+ begins at 6:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 7.