"It was awesome - obviously playing in Buffalo is a little bit surreal because this is close to home, to where I grew up, and these are the NHL games I came to," said Angello, who said he looked up to Tim Connolly and Maxim Afinogenov. "So to finally play in the building was awesome. And then scoring, honestly, I'd say was even more surreal. If that's even possible."
The play started when the Penguins won a defensive-zone draw and rimmed the pyck around the boards. "Something we've been preaching and harping on is good wall play," Angello, 25, said.
From there, they chipped it out, and Angello and Sabres forward Sam Reinhart both reached for the puck in the neutral zone. It flew into the air, where Angello managed to settle it with his glove while in stride, put it on his blade and bury a shot.
"Retrieved it, got it back and made a nice play with a nice shot on net," Angello said before adding, "I'll be honest, Evan Rodrigues said any time I get inside the top of the circles, make sure to let it rip. So I didn't think twice about shooting that one."
The unassisted tally was the second goal of his NHL career and first since Feb. 18, 2020 vs. Toronto. Unfortunately,
Anthony's parents David and Pamela
were unable to witness it in person, as the Sabres are not permitted to host fans until March 20.
"But I'm sure they watched on TV, and I'm sure my dad had a tear in his eye," Angello said.
It wasn't his first scoring chance of the night. Angello also hit a post earlier in the game as his line with Colton Sceviour and Mark Jankowski - playing together for the second game in a row - had a strong performance.
"They brought us a lot of energy," head coach Mike Sullivan said. "I thought they had some offensive zone time. I thought they possessed the puck down low. They forced Buffalo to have to expend energy defending them. That's the type of contribution those guys can provide for our team. They helped us with momentum and then bring the physical presence, and when Anthony gets a nice goal like that, it's a bonus."
The Penguins have been searching for consistency from their fourth line, trying a number of different personnel combinations throughout the year. They might have found a winner with this trio.
"I feel like my line has been playing really well," Angello said. "We're bonding, figuring out how each other plays, playing to our strengths, playing simple in the right ways and good things are finally starting to happen."
As a rookie last season, Angello made his NHL debut on Jan. 31, 2020 and stuck around with the big club for the rest of the year, save for a short stint with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at the end of February.
All in all, Angello appeared in eight games with Pittsburgh, and the Penguins liked what they saw when it came to his development. As a result, they rewarded him with a two-year contract extension.
They were looking for the big 6-foot-5 forward to keep making big strides, and he's been doing just that since making his season debut for Pittsburgh on Feb. 27 against the New York Islanders after being recalled from the taxi squad.
"I think Anthony has been playing really well for us," Brandon Tanev said. "He's a big body and I think he skates well and he's been playing physical. He brings a physical presence for us, he blocks shots, he plays a full 200-foot game and it was awesome to see him get rewarded. It was a hell of a play by him and a great finish."
