Pens down Sabres, 5-2 | Buffalo Hockey Central

Per.	Time	EV	Goal	Assist	Assist
1	6:27		Evgeni Malkin (7)	Kasperi Kapanen (11)	---
1	6:54		Tage Thompson (1)	Kyle Okposo (3)	Cody Eakin (3)
2	3:24		Brandon Tanev (6)	Teddy Blueger (10)	Mike Matheson (3)
2	8:46		Victor Olofsson (8)	Riley Sheahan (2)	Eric Staal (7)
2	11:36	PPG	Jake Guentzel (9)	Sidney Crosby (16)	Evgeni Malkin (14)
3	2:43		Anthony Angello (1)	---	---
3	18:45		Bryan Rust (9)	Tristan Jarry (3)	---

Thursday night’s game ended much like the past few for the Buffalo Sabres, a 5-2 loss, this time to the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Sabres have now lost nine straight games, seven straight at home and have given up a total of 38 goals in those nine losses.

Evgeni Malkin put Pittsburgh on the board first at 6:27. 27 seconds later, Buffalo tied the game.

After being scratched for 10 out of the last 11 games, Tage Thompson scored his first goal of the season on a wraparound. Thompson’s last goal was recorded January 29, 2019 and he missed the remainder of the season due to a shoulder injury on November 17, 2019.

Tage Thompson nets his first of the season on the wraparound! 🚨#NHLonSN pic.twitter.com/xwVqG7CaQw

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 12, 2021

The Penguins took the lead early in the second period with a backhanded goal at 3:24 from Brandon Tanev. Over five minutes later, Buffalo tied it up with a goal from Victor Olofsson— his eighth of the season, off a pass from teammate Riley Sheahan, who recorded his 100th career assist. The tie was broken on the power play by Pittsburgh’s Jake Guentzel.

Third period injuries for the Sabres gave the Penguins the go to take advantage. Dylan Cozens was drilled into the boards by Zach Aston-Reese just 2:27 into the period. He left the ice and was helped to the locker room for examination. Colin Miller stood up for Cozens, dropping the gloves and going after Aston-Reese.

https://twitter.com/SabresPlays/status/1370193698953302020

16 seconds later, Anthony Angello went over Jonas Johansson’s glove and pulled the Penguins ahead 4-2. Cozens did not return to the game. Coach Ralph Krueger said post game that Cozens was still being evaluated and would have an update in at least an hour.

Rasmus Dahlin had a scare after having a knee-to-knee hit with Chad Ruhwedel. Dahlin talked with a trainer and returned on a power play line.

Johansson left the net for Buffalo with about 2 minutes left. Bryan Rust took advantage of that, making it 5-2 with an empty net goal with 1:15 left in the game. Johansson allowed four goals on 26 shots and is now 0-4-1 on the season. The Sabres continued their decline in shots on goal with 23 shots, multiple of those hit the goal post.

This was Buffalo’s second game without Captain Jack Eichel, who is out at least 7-10 days with an upper body injury.

The Sabres (6-15-4) will play the Penguins (16-9-1) again Saturday night at 7 p.m.