Penguins at Sabres
The Pittsburgh Penguins have one last chance to register a victory in April - and a postseason berth may hang in the balance on Saturday when they visit the Buffalo Sabres. Pittsburgh fell to 0-4-1 this month with a 3-1 home loss to the New York Islanders, leaving a wild-card spot as its only hope for making the playoffs.
The Penguins are one point behind Ottawa for the first wild card but just one ahead of Boston for the final postseason berth in the Eastern Conference. League-worst Buffalo concluded the road portion of its schedule with a 4-2 loss at Columbus on Friday. The Sabres forged a tie on captain Brian Gionta's power-play goal in the final minute of the second period, but the Blue Jackets snapped it midway through the third and added an empty-netter to guarantee Buffalo 30th place and one of the first two picks in this year's draft. The Sabres have offered little resistance in the season series against Pittsburgh, dropping the first two contests by a combined 11-1 score.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, ROOT (Pittsburgh), MSG (Buffalo)
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (42-27-12): Pittsburgh has qualified for the playoffs each of the last eight seasons, last missing out during Sidney Crosby's rookie campaign of 2005-06. Speaking of the captain, Crosby enters Saturday tied with John Tavares of the New York Islanders in scoring with 84 points. The 27-year-old is seeking his second straight Art Ross Trophy and the third of his career.
ABOUT THE SABRES (23-50-8): Gionta assisted on Buffalo's other goal Friday, giving him six two-point performances in his last nine games. Tyler Ennis notched an assist against Columbus to raise his team-leading point total to 46. The 25-year-old, who also tops the club in goals, is one away from matching his career high of 21 set last season and three points shy of his 2010-11 amount.
OVERTIME
1. Crosby hasn't tallied but set up eight of Pittsburgh's 11 goals against Buffalo this season.
2. Buffalo has a league-worst goal differential of minus-111.
3. Should they make the playoffs, the Penguins likely would be without D Kris Letang, whose concussion is expected to keep him sidelined the rest of the season, according to GM Jim Rutherford.