Penguins 6, Sabres 1
Captain Sidney Crosby matched a career high with five assists and defenseman Kris Letang scored two goals and set up two others as visiting Pittsburgh breezed to its seventh straight victory.
Patric Hornqvist collected two power-play goals and an assist for the Penguins, who went 2-for-5 with the man advantage to improve to 13-for-34 during their winning streak. Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Robert Bortuzzo also tallied while Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 20 saves for Pittsburgh, which also cruised to a 5-0 home triumph over Buffalo last Saturday.
Crosby had three assists in that contest and has recorded 36 points (10 goals, 26 assists) during his 19-game point streak against the Sabres, the league's longest active run versus one opponent. The reigning Hart Trophy winner's five-assist performance equaled his effort versus the New York Islanders on March 10, 2013.
Zemgus Girgensons scored late in the second period for the Sabres, who have been outscored 28-10 while dropping to 1-6-2 at home. Jhonas Enroth turned aside 33 shots to fall to 1-7-1 on the season.
Letang capped a passing sequence with Crosby by beating Enroth 81 seconds into the contest to open the scoring before Hornqvist deflected the defenseman's shot inside the post just 2:10 later to double the advantage. Letang beat a screened Enroth at 15:04 of the first period for his second of the night before Hornqvist scored on a one-timer from the faceoff dot following Chris Kunitz's feed at 4:56 of the second to give Pittsburgh a 4-0 advantage.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Letang's four-point performance matched his career high, originally set against Montreal on March 2, 2013. ... The Penguins have won 14 of the last 18 meetings between the teams. ... Buffalo went 0-for-3 on the power play versus Pittsburgh, which has thwarted 37 straight short-handed situations while keeping opposing power plays at bay for a franchise-best 10 straight games.