Buffalo 4, Pittsburgh 2
When: 3:00 PM ET, Sunday, April 18, 2021
Where: KeyBank Center, Buffalo, New York
Referees:
Frederick L'Ecuyer, Brian Pochmara
Linesmen:
Dan Kelly, Tony Sericolo
Attendance:
N/A
By Field Level Media
Sam Reinhart scored twice and goaltender Dustin Tokarski made 34 saves Sunday to lift the Buffalo Sabres past the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2.
Arttu Ruotsalainen and Rasmus Asplund also scored, and Victor Olofsson and Rasmus Dahlin each added two assists for the Sabres, who earned a split of back-to-back games between the clubs at KeyBank Center and moved to 6-3-3 in their past 12 games.
Tokarski started for the second day in a row after facing 41 shots Saturday in a 3-2 Pittsburgh win.
Jason Zucker and Teddy Blueger scored, and Casey DeSmith made 25 saves for Pittsburgh, which had won the first five games of the teams' season series.
The Penguins have lost two of three (1-1-1) after a stretch of 9-2-1 over 12 games.
Entering the game, DeSmith, Pittsburgh's backup, had three shutouts in four career starts against Buffalo, including a shutout streak of 1:79:52.
That streak didn't last long, as Ruotsalainen gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead 26 seconds into the first period. Off a two-on-one with Pittsburgh defenseman Brian Dumoulin defending, Ruotsalainen took a pass from Dylan Cozens and one-timed it past DeSmith's glove.
It was Ruotsalainen's second goal in his sixth NHL game. It was Cozens' fifth assist in five games.
As with the first, Buffalo scored the only goal in the second.
From the right dot, Reinhart got off a shot that went past Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson, off the far post and in at 2:18 to give the Sabres a 2-0 lead.
Reinhart struck again at 8:02 of the third on a power play. From a similar area in the right circle, Reinhart this time went short side with a high shot to beat DeSmith and make it 3-0.
At 10:18 of the third, Zucker broke up Tokarski's bid for a second career shutout. Off a faceoff, Zucker got to the puck in the left circle and rifled it between Tokarski's pads to cut it to 3-1.
Asplund added an empty-netter with 1:48 left, rendering Blueger's goal with 23.2 seconds left too little, too late.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Pittsburgh |
|
Buffalo |
|
Teddy Blueger 1 |
Points |
Sam Reinhart 2 |
|
Teddy Blueger 1 |
Goals |
Sam Reinhart 2 |
|
Jeff Carter 1 |
Assists |
Rasmus Dahlin 2 |
|
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
Sam Reinhart 1 |
|
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
|
Casey DeSmith .893 |
Save Percentage |
Dustin Tokarski .944 |
|
Casey DeSmith 25 |
Saves |
Dustin Tokarski 34 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| Pittsburgh
|
36 |
2 |
0-2 |
3-4 |
8 |
28 |
| Buffalo
|
29 |
4 |
1-4 |
2-2 |
4 |
33 |
Upcoming Games
-
Buffalo will play their next game at home against Boston. The Sabres have a W/L % of .182 after a win and .303 after a loss.
-
Pittsburgh will play their next game at home against New Jersey. The Penguins have a W/L % of .607 after a win and .688 after a loss.
For more information, contact us