Sabres take down Pens in shootout
Associated Press
buffalo, n.y.
Cal O’Reilly scored the lone goal in a shootout, and the Buffalo Sabres snapped a six-game losing streak with a 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night.
William Carrier scored his first NHL goal and Sabres goalie Anders Nilsson stopped 46 shots through overtime plus all three shootout attempts he faced.
Buffalo snapped an 0-4-2 skid and ended a nine-game slide against the Penguins. The Sabres had gone 0-8-1 versus Pittsburgh since a 4-2 road win on April 23, 2013.
Sidney Crosby scored for Pittsburgh, which has alternated losses and wins over its past five games since a 9-2-2 start.
O’Reilly’s shootout goal came after he was called up from Buffalo’s AHL affiliate in Rochester earlier in the day.
After Buffalo’s Kyle Okposo and Sam Reinhart were stopped on their shootout attempts, O’Reilly drove in on the right wing, cut to the front of the net and beat Marc-Andre Fleury with a snap shot to the glove side.
Nilsson then sealed the win by stopping the Penguins’ final try, when Kris Letang attempted to beat the goalie through the legs.
Nilsson’s best save came with 2:55 left in overtime, when he kicked out his left pad at the last moment to foil Letang on a breakaway.
Though outshot 18-6 in the first period, the Sabres led 1-0 after capitalizing on one of their few chances.
Penguins forward Matt Cullen misplayed Bryan Rust’s pass along the left boards in his own zone. The puck went directly to Sabres defenseman Taylor Fedun at the point and he immediately snapped it toward the net, where Carrier deflected it in for his first career goal.