In a game dominated by special teams play, the Buffalo Sabres ran away from the Penguins in the third period to clinch a 6-2 win.
Jordan Staal put the Penguins within one to start the final period on a power play goal. Pittsburgh put constant pressure on Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller throughout the power play, until Staal finally broke through on a quick backhand from in front of the net that trickled through the five-hole of Miller and just across the goal line. James Neal hit Staal with a nice pass to the front and then, with his back to the net, Staal put the shot past Miller.
Buffalo answered the Staal goal a minute later to make it a two-goal lead again. Drew Stafford scored just his third goal of his last 19 games, as he suffers through a rough scoring drought. Stafford rushed towards Marc-Andre Fleury and put a shot on net that was deflected wide. He didn't give up on the play however, and scooped up the puck behind the net and fired a shot from a bad angle as he circled back around. Fleury was still sprawled out in the crease and the shot deflected off his blocker and into the back of the net to make it 4-2 Buffalo.
Derek Roy scored his second of the game on a shorthanded chance to bump the Sabres lead back to three. Jason Pominville played keep-away, controlling the puck on the boards and putting a perfect crossing pass on the stick of Roy, who was streaking down the right side towards the net. Roy knocked the crossing pass down out of mid air and deflected it under the legs of Fleury for the goal.
The Sabres added one more on the power play to make it 6-2. Tyler Ennis did the damage from in front of the net. Ennis pulled a nifty spin move on defenseman Paul Martin to get open and take a feed from behind the net from Zack Kassian. Ennis then flipped the puck into the air, moved his stick to the backhand and knocked it out of the air and into the back of the net for the 6-2 lead. The Sabres have struggled to score all season and this was the first time the Pens gave up six goals since December 16th against Ottawa.
The Pens now have one day off before the Eastern Conference's top team, the New York Rangers, come to town on Tuesday night for an Atlantic Division showdown.
For all news and information regarding the Pittsburgh Penguins, please visit PensBurgh, or check out SB Nation Pittsburgh. Meanwhile, Die By The Blade has everything on the Sabres. For all your hockey new and notes, be sure to check out SB Nation's NHL hub.