Jarry leads Pens to fourth straight win

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

The two-time defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins are starting to build momentum after an uneven start to the season.

That hasn’t been the case for the Buffalo Sabres, who were nearly shut out for a fourth straight game.

Tristan Jarry, who got his first career shutout on Friday against Buffalo, stopped 32 shots to beat the Sabres again in the second game of a home-and-home series.

Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist apiece, and the Penguins won their season-best fourth straight game, 5-1 over the slumping Sabres on Saturday.

“I don’t think there’s any special formula,” Crosby said. “I think our mindset has probably been to get more pucks and people to the net and we’ve done that. Sometimes it goes in, and sometimes it doesn’t, but it has been working for us lately, so we have to continue to do that.”

Crosby scored his 12th goal, finding the net for a season-high fifth consecutive game. He has a point in 27 of his last 29 games against the Sabres dating to Dec. 29, 2007. Malkin, who returned Friday after missing four games with an upper-body injury, scored his eighth goal.

“We played very well, but I know we can play better,” Malkin said.

Phil Kessel kept pace with Crosby for the team lead with his 12th goal. Patric Hornqvist and Carl Hagelin also scored for the Penguins, who are 14-0-1 in their last 15 games aginst the Sabres, including an eight-game home winning streak.

Jason Pominville scored his seventh of the season and the Sabres’ first goal since Nov. 24 against Edmonton. The Sabres had been shut out in their previous three games.

“We were different tonight,” Pominville said. “We definitely weren’t as flat as we had been in the previous couple games, but we we’re playing the Stanley Cup champions.”