Josh Norris and Owen Power each had a goal and an assist for the Buffalo Sabres, who won their fifth straight game, 5-1, against the host Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.
Ryan McLeod, Alex Tuch and Mattias Samuelsson also scored for the Sabres. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 27 saves.
Bryan Rust scored, and Arturs Silovs made 21 saves for the Penguins, who have lost three of four (1-2-1).
McLeod scored short-handed to give Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 12:00 of the first period. He poked the puck away from Ben Kindel inside the Sabres’ zone, caught up to it in the neutral zone for a breakaway and slipped a backhand five-hole on Silovs.
Rust pulled Pittsburgh even with a short-handed tally of his own at 14:48. He collected a loose puck in the neutral zone, skated down the left side and then cut to the net, going backhand to forehand before putting it past Luukkonen’s left skate.
The Sabres broke the game open in the second period. Rasmus Dahlin and Evgeni Malkin got into a battle at the Sabres net 38 seconds into the frame, with Dahlin cross-checking Malkin and the Penguins veteran responding with a slash to the side of Dahlin’s face.
Dahlin was given a two-minute minor, while Malkin was assessed two for cross-checking, a five-minute major for slashing, and a game misconduct, putting Buffalo on a lengthy power play.
Norris made it 2-1 for the visitors on the man advantage, putting a wrist shot blocker side on Silovs at 4:10. Pittsburgh challenged for goaltender interference, as Josh Doan battled Kris Letang in front, but the call on the ice stood after review.
With the Sabres short-handed and a delayed penalty looming on the Penguins, Tuch tipped Power’s shot from the blue line to push it to 3-1 at 6:18.
Power then increased it to 4-1 with the first even-strength tally of the night at 10:30. He snuck into the left circle to receive a cross-ice feed from Norris and fired a wrist shot that went under Silovs’ right arm.
Samuelsson scored an empty-net goal at 16:53 of the third period for the 5-1 final.
