Sidney Crosby collected his third hat trick
of the season to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 5-4 win over the Buffalo
Sabres at Mellon Arena.
Crosby tied San Jose's Patrick Marleau for the league-lead in goals with 37,
while increasing his point total to 71 -- good for third in the NHL. The feat
was his fifth career hat trick.
Jordan Staal got his 14th goal of the season, while rookie center Mark Letestu
netted his first NHL goal and point for the Penguins, winners in four of their
last five games.
Marc-Andre Fleury recorded 30 saves for the win. Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang
each had two assists.
Jason Pominville, Thomas Vanek, Derek Roy and Tim Kennedy dented the
scoreboard for Buffalo, which had won two in a row following an 0-3-1 winless
stretch.
Ryan Miller was charged with five goals on just 18 shots through two periods
and ended with 26 saves.
With the Penguins down 3-1, Crosby's power-play marker just past the midway
point of the second got Pittsburgh back within one, and Staal brought the
hosts all the way back by scoring with 5:54 left in the frame.
Crosby then scored 1:25 apart before the close of the period as the Pens
surged to a 5-3 lead. First, with Miller out of position, Crosby swarmed on a
loose puck near the left post and chipped it past the prone goaltender.
Then with 1:05 remaining, Crosby cranked a feed across the slot from Letang as
the hats rained down from above.
Pittsburgh's Sergei Gonchar took a tripping penalty with 3:46 left to play and
Pominville scored inside a minute later to make it a one-goal game. The Pens
continued to leave the door open as Brooks Orpik was whistled for holding just
outside two minutes to go.
The Sabres assaulted Fleury with a barrage of shots on the advantage but
couldn't find the equalizer.
Letestu's goal came just 47 seconds into the contest to stake the hosts to an
early lead. Buffalo netted the next two in short order, though, as Roy's
power-play goal evened the score and Vanek found the back of the net less
than a minute later at 6:03 of the first.
Kennedy made it a 3-1 game 7:32 into the second, finishing off a 3-on-2 rush
by deflecting a Mike Grier centering pass into the net.
Game Notes
Buffalo has lost six of its last seven road contests, posting a 1-4-2 record
in those games...The Pens ended a three-game homestand at 2-1-0 and will play
their next two games in Montreal and Washington...Pittsburgh took a 2-1 lead
in the season series and has taken eight of the last 11 matchups
overall...Vanek and Roy each added an assist for Buffalo.
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