The Pittsburgh Penguins built an early lead and defeated the Buffalo Sabres 3-1 at KeyBank Center on Saturday afternoon. Sidney Crosby scored the opening goal midway through the first period to put the Penguins ahead for good in the preseason contest.
Crosby put Pittsburgh on the board at 9:00 of the first period with an even-strength wrist shot set up by Tommy Novak and Declan Carlile. Less than two minutes later, Ville Koivunen extended the advantage to 2-0 with a backhand goal assisted by Hendrix Lapierre and Bryan Rust. Buffalo answered in the third period when Ryan McLeod scored on a power play at 11:30 with assists from Owen Power and Noah Ostlund, but Nick Robertson sealed the win with an empty-net goal at 18:55.
Penguins goaltender Arturs Silovs stopped 23 of 24 shots to earn the victory. Buffalo split time in net, with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen taking the loss after allowing two goals on 17 shots and Colten Ellis stopping all six shots he faced. The Sabres converted one of their three power-play chances, while the Penguins finished 0 for 1 with the man advantage.
Both teams continue their exhibition schedules next month. Pittsburgh visits the Utah Mammoth on Monday, October 19, while Buffalo hosts the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday, October 21.
