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Sabres 4, Penguins 3: Sabres Erase Three Goal Deficit For Win
Buffalo, NY (Sports Network) - Drew Stafford notched a pair of goals, including a score on a penalty shot, as Buffalo recovered from a three-goal deficit to down Pittsburgh, 4-3, at HSBC Arena.
Paul Gaustad and Jason Pominville also tallied for the Sabres, who have won two games in succession. Starter Ryan Miller yielded three goals on 11 shots, while Patrick Lalime picked up the win by stopping all 27 shots he faced in the final 38-plus minutes.
Jordan Staal, Bill Guerin and Chris Kunitz scored once each for the Penguins, who have dropped three of four. Marc-Andre Fleury allowed four goals on 24 shots in defeat.
With just over seven minutes to play in the second period, Penguins defenseman Jay McKee covered the puck in the crease with Fleury out of position, and the Sabres were awarded a penalty shot.
Stafford was given the opportunity to shoot and scored low to the glove side to put the Sabres on the board.
Stafford made it a 3-2 game by stashing a rebound into a half-open net a little more than two minutes later, then Gaustad’s backhand tip at the left post from a Stafford dish knotted the game with 7:28 played in the third.
Pominville’s power-play score, a wrister past Fleury’s inactive glove, put the Sabres on top for the first time, 4-3, with 9:05 left in regulation, and Buffalo held on in the final 1:28 of the contest with Pittsburgh skating 6- on-5.
Pittsburgh grabbed a 2-0 lead after one period on Staal’s tally at 4:08 and a Guerin goal with 1:29 left in the first.
Kunitz beat Miller with a blistering high slapshot for a 3-0 Pens advantage, and Miller’s night was over in favor of Lalime.
Buffalo has won three of the last five matchups, and evened the season series at one game apiece...The Sabres host Atlanta on January 1, and the Penguins travel to New Jersey on Wednesday.
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