Peterka scores twice in return as Sabres fall to Penguins in OT

PITTSBURGH – JJ Peterka scored two goals in his return to the lineup, but a tumultuous, back-and-forth game ended with Sidney Crosby scoring a power-play goal 1:38 into overtime to claim a 6-5 victory for the Pittsburgh Penguins over the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday.

The game featured four lead changes. The Sabres held the upper hand early, pulling ahead 2-0 in the opening minutes of the game and taking a 3-1 lead into the first intermission. The Penguins staged a comeback – capped by Evgeni Malkin’s 500th career goal and a subsequent full-team, on-ice celebration – to pull ahead 4-3 early in the third.

The Sabres responded with a pair of goals scored 40 seconds apart by Peterka and Ryan McLeod to reclaim a 5-4 lead with 11:04 remaining, only for the Penguins to even the score once again on a Rickard Rakell goal with the extra attacker on the ice with 46 seconds left in regulation, setting the stage for Crosby's winner.

Tage Thompson pointed to differences in the Sabres’ decision making as what turned the tide in the Penguins’ favor at points of the game.

“I feel like when we kept it simple, we just played behind them, they couldn't keep up with our pace,” Thompson said. “We have a fast group and were putting pucks behind their D and making them turn to go get it and getting on the forecheck. They struggled to break out.

“And then I think when we started to try to force plays at their blue line, soft stuff through the middle, gives them easy offense. We knew they wanted to try to get behind us in the neutral zone and a couple times we let that happen because we were sniffing offense. So, I think a 3-1 lead, we’ve got to manage the puck better, be a little smarter, be a little more aware what's going on behind us.”

The Sabres used their speed to create offense during the first period. Thompson forced goaltender Tristan Jarry into a turnover behind the net and scored on a wrap-around attempt 43 seconds in. Jordan Greenway and Peterka added the next two goals on the rush, chasing Jarry from the game after he’d allowed three goals on five shots.

Chances continued to come during the second period – including two more Peterka breakaways (one of which drew a hooking penalty) and another for Zach Benson – but Jarry’s replacement, Joel Blomqvist, was up to the task. The Penguins began to generate their own chances, meanwhile, beginning when Noel Acciari forced a turnover at the blue line and set up Drew O’Connor for a shorthanded goal on a 2-on-1 rush. Jesse Puljujarvi was left open on another rush later in the period and capitalized off his backhand to tie the score at 3-3.

“I thought our puck management in the second period was terrible,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “You know they were going to press. We played too much one-on-one hockey, and every time we played one-on-one hockey, or you turn it over around the top of the circle, you’re basically breaking them out. We did that probably four or five times in the second. That really hurt us.”

Malkin scored his milestone goal to put Pittsburgh ahead 3:26 into the third period – his second of four points on the night, which upped his season total to an NHL-best 11. The Pittsburgh bench emptied and swarmed the forward on the ice, sending PPG Paints Arena into a raucous frenzy that lasted for the next several minutes.

“A lot of energy, a lot of emotion for them when that happened,” Thompson said. “I think for us, the main thing was getting back to what we were doing in the first. I think our first period, they had no life, no chance, and that just goes back to smart puck placements on dumps, making sure that we have guys above them in the neutral zone.”

The Sabres’ simplified approach led to Peterka’s tying goal, a shot across Blomqvist’s body after he picked up a carom off the half wall on the rush. McLeod’s first goal with the Sabres deflected off a Penguin stick 40 seconds later.

The Sabres came within a minute of leaving the game with two points, but – with Blomqvist pulled for an extra attacker – a Malkin one-timer created a rebound in the blue paint and Rakell was there to bury the tying goal.

Thompson was called for tripping when he got tied up with Malkin along the boards in overtime, the sixth penalty assessed to the Sabres on the night.

“It would be easy to blame the refs, but at the same time, we did a lot of things to hurt ourselves in that game,” Thompson said. “Obviously, it's a call we probably would have liked to have back, just going in there trying to hit him and he tries to jump out of the way and feel like that play happens at least once a shift. But it is what it is.

“Obviously, it happens. There's a lot of other things we could have done throughout the game, though, to prevent it even going into overtime. So, at the end of the day, we kind of did it to ourselves.”

Here’s more from the overtime loss in Pittsburgh.

1. Peterka had missed two games since sustaining a concussion as the result of an open-ice hit from New Jersey defenseman Brenden Dillon on Oct. 5. He’d been practicing consistently since Oct. 9, but the team was cautious to ease the 22-year-old back into the lineup.

“I think with concussions it’s always good to maybe get the extra days,” Peterka said. “… Obviously on one end it was frustrating, but at the other end I knew that the season is long, and I would rather miss one or two more games here than half a season.”

His importance to the Sabres was on full display Wednesday. His speed created four scoring chances, resulting in two goals and a drawn penalty.

“I thought JJ was awesome,” Ruff said. “You look at it, he scored two goals, he had two breakaways, he hit the post on one breakaway. He was dynamic all night for me. [I was] a little worried about throwing him in, but we got a heck of a game out of him."

2. Alex Tuch tallied a pair of assists for his second consecutive multi-point game. Tuch extended his point streak to four games, with two goals and four assists in that span.

3. The loss opened a three-game road trip, which continues in Columbus on Thursday.

“I think tonight's game, we beat ourselves,” Thompson said. “So, you know, frustrating one, but we’ve got a quick turnaround, another chance to get back at it tomorrow, so got to flush this one and move on. Silver lining is we got a point out of it, so you’ve got to take that with us and keep things moving.”

Up next

The Sabres visit the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday to conclude the back-to-back set. Pregame coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 7.