Sabres play strong from start to finish in win over Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH - For the second straight game, the Buffalo Sabres jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on the road. Then they added to it.
Buffalo maintained a strong defensive structure to come away with a 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday at PPG Paints Arena.
Unlike Tuesday's game in Ottawa, where the Sabres saw a 2-0 lead evaporate when the Senators scored four goals in 3:29 at the end of the first period in a 7-4 Senators victory, the Sabres didn't panic Saturday afternoon.
Their penalty kill was strong, going 2-for-2. Carter Hutton made 41 saves in net, including six while shorthanded.
The power play went 2-for-3 with captain Jack Eichel scoring both man-advantage markers for his 34th and 35th goals of the season.

And the Sabres received offensive contributions from up and down the lineup, including Jeff Skinner's first goal since Dec. 2. Zemgus Girgensons opened the scoring 14 seconds into the game and Sam Reinhart added another at the 6:46 mark of the first period.
"Jeez, I thought we came out hard. I thought we had a good start, the penalty kill good, Hutts was stellar," Eichel said. "I thought we played really desperate and we got rewarded. It's a really good team. It's a good way to play there. We smothered them, we back pressured. We played a good team game on the road."

Up 3-0 midway through the first period, the Sabres were able to focus on what they needed to do in order to hold off Pittsburgh's lethal attack.
"Tuesday's long gone. We really just came in here, regrouped and tried to get back to what we've been doing in the games before," head coach Ralph Krueger said.

Limiting offensive chances

When Pittsburgh finally got on the board with 8:50 remaining in the second period, Buffalo did not falter.
"They never stop coming at you," Krueger said. "They never stop believing they can score or change the score. They're not daunted by a 3-0 hole and you can feel that in their game. It was important for us to psychologically just stay with the game today.
"I thought after the 1-3 goal, there was a short little moment of wavering, but we quickly got back to our game," Krueger said. "That was probably the critical moment of the game - that we shut them down after the 1-3 and got back to what we needed to do without the puck.
"The pressure was great all night long, everybody working for each other. We spread the minutes out like probably no game this season and overall, just a really good team effort, but more than anything defensively. And the offense just profited and grew out of the structure that we showed tonight."
That defensive effort snapped Penguins captain Sidney Crosby's seven-game point streak against Buffalo. Crosby's best chance came on the power play, and when he tried to beat Hutton high shortside, the Sabres netminder was able to literally shrug it off with a shoulder save.
"We were trading chances through the first two periods. It was about even chances. So of course, a big compliment goes out to Carter Hutton," Krueger said. "We're up 3-1 instead of down and we created a lot of chances. We could've had a few more too possibly. Of course, Carter made some critical saves at the right moment."

Buffalo is 2-0-0 in Pittsburgh this year. They defeated the Penguins 3-1 in the season opener. The two clubs will meet again on March 5 in Buffalo.
"When we come here in this building, we understand what we're up against and the way we need to play. I don't think we deviate from that. That's what makes us successful," Eichel said. "It's important that you come in with that same mindset no matter who you're playing or where you are.
"It seems like when we go on the road and play against some of these top teams in the league, we really respect the opponent and respect our game. I think we try and execute it as well as we can. We've seen that with some of our good road wins this year."

Skinner lights the lamp

Skinner deflected in a Marcus Johansson pass in front 5:39 into the third period to put Buffalo ahead 4-1. It was Skinner's first tally since Dec. 2, a drought that lasted 22 games for the winger.
"It's been awhile for me obviously and whenever it's been awhile, it's nice to get one. I'm just happy I could contribute to the win," he said. "…You can use 'relief,' I guess, if that sort of fits the storyline because of how long it's been. I don't know. I just feel happy that we got another goal and we're in the lead a little bit more."

The goal came on his third shot of the game and fifth attempt. He now has 12 goals in 51 games this season.
"They were really celebrating. This group really cheers for each other. You could see the faces. Jeff's beaming, but everybody else too and cheering loud," Krueger said. "Let that be the beginning of some momentum for him."

Streaks continue

Eichel is now on a seven-game point streak with four goals and seven assists in that stretch.
Eichel also has eight points (5+3) in seven games against the Penguins since the beginning of the 2017-18 season, including seven points (4+3) in five road games.
With an assist on Eichel's second goal, Rasmus Dahlin extended his point streak to six games (1+6). Rasmus Ristolainen extended his to four games (0+6) with two assists.

Kyle Okposo (2+1) is also on a three-game point streak.
Hutton is now 5-0-0 with two shutouts in six career visits to Pittsburgh.

Up next

The Sabres will be back in action Sunday afternoon when the Winnipeg Jets come to Buffalo. Tickets are on sale now.
The team is hoping that they can carry the lessons of this win into the next stretch of games.
"A year ago, I don't think we would've had an effort like that in this situation. I think we've all grown up a little bit. It's all about that consistency," Eichel said. "We play again tomorrow at 3 and it's important to come back with another great effort."
Pregame coverage will begin at 2:30 p.m. on MSG. Rick Jeanneret and Rob Ray will call the action among the people; They'll be set up in Section 108 all game long.
The Sabres will then be on the road for the next little bit. Following the NHL Trade Deadline on Monday, the team will embark on a four-game road trip through Colorado, Arizona, Vegas and Winnipeg.
"We've been tested and we've got a lot of road hockey coming up here. We enjoy playing on the road and we're not afraid of it," Krueger said.
"…We definitely need to be ready to play physical and we know teams will be coming at us so the reaction today was excellent. We can be physical and push back as a team. We'll definitely take that with us."