Sabres finally get on the board, but fall in Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH -The Buffalo Sabres have been searching for answers, goals, and answers to questions about why they had been unable to score through nearly four straight games. They finally tallied for the first time in 232:09 of game action with a goal from Jason Pominville with 8:42 left in the third period, but even with that burden off their shoulders, they wrapped up a home-and-home set against the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 5-1 loss Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena

The goal-less streak was the longest in team history, eclipsing the 197:00 mark set from Oct. 4 through Oct. 22, 2014. Buffalo's last tally prior to Pominville's was an empty-net marker by Kyle Okposo with 51 seconds remaining back on Nov. 24 in a 3-1 win over Edmonton.
"Mentally, hopefully it feels good for the team to get one and not have to talk about this for hopefully a little while," Pominville said. "We still have work to do and we know we've got to be better. That was a step, but there's still a few more steps that we need to take."
Buffalo killed off three penalties in the first period and limited the Penguins to two shots on the man advantage. But Pittsburgh eventually broke through at even strength. Evgeni Malkin skated in with Phil Kessel on a 2-on-1 and wristed a shot glove side past Chad Johnson to make it 1-0 with 1:16 remaining in the opening period.
"We came with a lot of emotion. They played for one another tonight. You could see it in the first period," Housley said. "We were really having a strong period, but again, it's a game of mistakes and we can't make mistakes because of the position we're in. We're not getting enough run support to support mistakes. Definitely, I felt we had a strong effort. But the bottom line is winning."
At the 5:36 mark of the second period, Carl Hagelin cut in from the corner and on a bad angle, roofed one past Johnson to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead.
Before the goal, Buffalo's best offensive chances came on the power play midway through the second. Three shots on goal were credited to the Sabres power play in that particular instance, but Rasmus Ristolainen also missed a chance just wide and then cranked one off the post at the 7:54 mark of the period. But even with goaltender Tristan Jarry scrambling in his crease, they weren't able to put the puck in to make it a one-goal game.
The power play finished the night 0-for-4 with six shots on goal.
"It's a tough one to swallow - that we played hard - but there are no moral victories in this league," alternate captain Jack Eichel said. "It's got to come from within us, the execution and just that mental side of the game - just making plays on a shift-to-shift basis. Everybody can be a little bit better and I think that'll just help our team."
The Penguins extended their lead to 3-0 when Carl Hagelin potted in a pass from Sidney Crosby after a great individual effort freed him up to make the play.
Pominville scored with 8:42 left in regulation, one-timing a behind-the-net pass from Eichel, but Kessel put Pittsburgh ahead by three again with 6:46 remaining. Crosby added an empty-netter with 1:02 left on the clock.
Johnson finished with 24 saves for Buffalo while Jarry stopped 32 pucks for the Penguins.
"We definitely weren't as flat as we had been in the previous couple games," Pominville said. "But playing the Stanley Cup champions, you give them a couple of power plays, you make their top guys feel good about their game, they capitalize - and the opportunities we gave them were by mental mistakes and they're gone. They get rush chances and they've got guys who can make plays when you give them that time and space. They made us pay tonight."
The Sabres will return to practice on Monday before they fly out to Colorado to kick off a three-game road trip that starts Tuesday night against the Avalanche. We'll have full coverage for you on Sabres.com, including the status of defenseman Nathan Beaulieu, who played his last shift with 7:41 remaining in the second period and did not return.