The Buffalo Sabres were back at home Friday night, winning against the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 in comeback fashion.
The Sabres offense generated good chances all night, recording 34 shots and three goals in the contest.
Buffalo’s defense also played well aside from a few turnovers, which led to both of Pittsburgh’s goals in this one.
Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen had a good night, saving 31 of his 33 shots against in the victory.
The Sabres special teams also played an instrumental part in the win, as Buffalo scored on the power play, and the penalty kill unit was able to kill both penalties against as well.
In the end, Buffalo made an impressive comeback in the third period, scoring three times to lift them past the Penguins on Black Friday.
1st period
Both teams would kick off the game with good scoring chances, including a shot that went off the post from Sabres captain Kyle Okposo.
The Penguins offense would slowly start to generate more chances than Buffalo as the team got a breakaway, but Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen kept it scoreless.
The Sabres offense would then receive some good zone pressure, and this would lead to a Pittsburgh penalty, sending the Sabres to the power play for the first time in this contest.
Buffalo was able to generate some good pressure and even get a few good chances, but the Penguins penalty killers would keep the game scoreless.
The two teams offenses would start to slow down until late in the period, when the Penguins offense started to pick it up again.
This offensive pressure led to a Sabres turnover, and the Penguins captain Sydney Crosby would take advantage, scoring his 563rd career goal to put Pittsburgh up 1-0.
Buffalo would respond with some good chances late, but Pittsburgh would go into the first intermission with the one-goal lead.
2nd period
The Penguins would again start the period hot, getting a few good chances off an offensive zone faceoff, but Luukkonen kept it 1-0.
Buffalo would start to apply pressure in the Pittsburgh zone, and Sabres defensemen Erik Johnson made a big hit, which led to Penguins Reily Smith retaliating with a hit that gave the Sabres their second power play.
Despite some good chances and pressure in the Penguins zone, Pittsburgh was once again able to kill the penalty to preserve their one-goal lead.
After a few uneventful minutes of action, the Penguins offense got back to work with chances from both Sydney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, leading to Buffalo taking a penalty.
Buffalo would start their penalty kill with a good chance from Dylan Cozens short-handed but was stopped to keep it 1-0.
Pittsburgh would then have an effective power play, sustaining good pressure in the offensive zone, but Buffalo was still able to kill the penalty.
Shortly after the penalty ended, Sabres defensemen Rasmus Dahlin would fan on a pass in his own zone, and Pittsburgh’s Matt Nieto would pass the puck in front to teammate Lars Eller who beat Luukkonen to extend the Penguins lead to 2-0.
Buffalo would make a late effort to pull closer, but Pittsburgh would head to the intermission with a two-goal lead.
3rd period
Both teams got going quickly as Pittsburgh’s Jake Guentzel threw the puck through the crease on a 2-on-1 chance, and then Sabres Rasmus Dahlin sent a long pass down the ice to give Alex Tuch and Kyle Okposo a 2-on-0 chance, but were also denied to keep it 2-0.
Buffalo would continue to apply pressure, and Evgeni Malkin took a penalty to give the Sabres another power play opportunity.
The Sabres would force a turnover in the Penguins zone, and Jeff Skinner scored to cut the deficit in half.
The Penguins would start to apply their own pressure, but Luukkonen kept the score 2-1.
Buffalo would take the puck back the other way with a 2-on-1, where captain Kyle Okposo would attempt to pass the puck across to Peyton Krebs, but the puck was deflected past goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic to tie the game at two.
Pittsburgh would again generate pressure after the goal, and it would lead to a holding penalty against the Sabres, giving them their second power play of the night.
The Penguins were able to generate some good chances, but the Sabres penalty kill was able to step up and keep the game tied.
Shortly after the penalty, Buffalo would take the puck back the other way and apply zone pressure, where forward Alex Tuch would find some open space in front of the net and tap in a pass to give Buffalo a 3-2 lead late.
The Penguins would then pull their goaltender, but the team would take a costly penalty with less than a minute to go.
This would allow Buffalo to hold on and complete the comeback, winning 3-2 at home.
Takeaways
Buffalo’s offense was able to elevate their play in the final period, and led Buffalo to a comeback win in front of the home crowd.
With the win Buffalo improves to 9-9-2 on the season, which is sixth in their division.
The team now heads back on the road, this time in New Jersey to play the Devils on Saturday night.