(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
The Pittsburgh Penguins gained a much-needed 2 points after a great battle with the Buffalo Sabres Tuesday night. The Penguins managed to overcome an early 3 goal deficit to win the game in a shootout 5-4. The Penguins goals coming from Lovejoy (4), Sheary (6), Kuhnhackl (4), and Bonino (7). Matt Murray saved 26 of 30 shots in the win tonight and Chad Johnson saved 42 of 46. Although the Sabres played well with 22 blocked shots and 42 saves from their goaltender, they could not push past the Penguins. This win tonight put the Penguins just one point behind the Rangers in the Metropolitan division at 94. The Penguins currently sit in third place in their division, with 6 games remaining in the season.
1st Period: The Pittsburgh Penguins started the game out slow against the Sabres. They went 0-2 on 2 early power plays, but to make matters worse they gave up a short-handed goal on the second power play. After going down 2-0 early in the first, the Penguins started to up the pressure. Although they put 18 first period shots on Johnson, he managed to save all of them. This is especially impressive as Johnson was starting in his 6th straight game tonight, including a start last night against the Red Wings in which they lost 3-2. Matt Murray played almost the complete opposite of Johnson this period as he allowed 3 goals on 9 shots. The Penguins also gave up a late goal as Hagelin was beat to the net to give the Sabres a 3-0.
2nd Period: Just 1:28 into the second period the Penguins came in on a 3 on 2 where Bryan Rust was able to find Ben Lovejoy on a cross crease pass to cut the Sabres lead down to 3-1. Not too long after Sidney Crosby made an amazing play after being knocked down to get the puck to Connor Sheary for a clear path to the net who beat Johnson blocker side. This goal occurred 5:55 into the second and made the game 3-2. The Penguins began to run all over Buffalo and kept the pressure up extremely well. With 10:40 left in the second period, Patric Hornqvist managed to get a good shot from the slot, but ended up hitting the crossbar, keeping the game at 3-2. Not much action happened through the rest of the third, until there was about 2 minutes left. While the Penguins were short-handed, Kris Letang managed to bank a pass of the wall to spring Cullen and Kuhnhackl on a 2 on 1, where Kuhnhackl received a perfect pass that he buried to tie the game at 3. Just 25 seconds later, Hagelin managed to force a turnover from Chad Johnson while he was behind the net playing the puck, and found Cullen who shot the puck into a wide open net, giving the Penguins their first lead of the game at 4-3. The Penguins kept up this intensity throughout the whole period and dominated the Sabres. Chad Johnson saved 28 of 32 shots through the second period, while Matt Murray saved 9 of 12.
3rd Period: Early in the third a few players got mixed up behind the Penguins net which sent the Sabres to a power play. Already 1 for 2 on the power play this far, the Sabres were able to take advantage again. Just 2:13 into the third period and Zach Bogosian tied the game at 4. The Penguins kept up the pressure throughout the rest of the third but couldn’t manage to do much as the game remained tied. The Sabres and the Pens went back and forth, but neither team budged. Chad Johnson continued to play phenomenally and Matt Murray improved his game greatly through the period. The Sabres best chance came with 17:20 left in the period, where Matt Murray robbed Foligno on the doorstep to keep the game tied. The period would end at with the game tied although the Penguins heavily outplayed the Sabres. The period ended with the Pens leading in shots 43-25, however Johnson’s spectacular play kept them in the game.
Overtime: With 4:02 left in the overtime period, Matt Murray robs Brian Gionta on the doorstep with potential to win the game. The Buffalo Sabres dominated most of the period to start. The Penguins weren’t able to get many chances as the Sabres kept up their impressive shot blocking. Bryan Rust got a wonderful chance with about 2:10 to go, but Johnson managed to make a beautiful save with his helmet. Chad Johsnon also robbed Hagelin with 38.8 seconds to go in the OT period as he got a beautiful shot from the bottom of the circle off. Matt Murray saved the game with 31 seconds left as Jack Eichel caught a miscued pass by the Penguins for a breakaway. The Sabres were able to get a few good chances after the save by Murray, but neither team could find the back of the net in the overtime. The shots at the end of the overtime ended at 46-29 in favor of the Penguins.
Shootout: After neither team could score on their first shots, Kris Letang made a great move to snap a shot five hole against Chad Johnson to give them a 1-0 lead in the shootout. With Jack Eichel missing his next shot and Kessel up third with a chance to end the game, he buries a shot past Johnson to give the Penguins a 5-4 win.
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