Sabres at Penguins
A victory would be the ultimate accomplishment, but the Buffalo Sabres first would like to halt their lengthy scoring drought when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday for the back end of their home-and-home series. Buffalo suffered a 4-0 loss on Friday in the opener of the set, marking the third straight contest in which it was shut out.
The Sabres have not scored since posting a 3-1 victory over Edmonton on Nov. 24 and enter Saturday's rematch with a drought of 180 minutes, 51 seconds. Rookie Tristan Jarry made 34 saves versus Buffalo en route to his first career shutout for the Penguins, who are riding a three-game winning streak into the opener of their five-game homestand. Sidney Crosby has been on an offensive tear for Pittsburgh, registering a tally and an assist on Friday to extend his goal-scoring and point streaks to four and five games, respectively. The 30-year-old captain, who has posted four consecutive multi-point performances, collected five goals and six assists during his point run.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHL Network, MSG (Buffalo), AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh
ABOUT THE SABRES (6-16-4): Zach Bogosian made his season debut on Friday and registered four shots in 20 minutes, 48 seconds of ice time. The 27-year-old defenseman had been sidelined with a lower-body injury, which he suffered in the final game of the preseason. Blue-liner Marco Scandella, who is in his first season with Buffalo after spending seven with Minnesota, will appear in his 400th career game on Saturday.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (14-10-3): Evgeni Malkin was back in the lineup Friday after missing four games with an upper-body injury and notched an assist on Jake Guentzel's tally. The 23-year-old Guentzel leads the team with 12 goals in 27 games and is four shy of matching the amount he produced in 40 contests as a rookie last season. Phil Kessel tops Pittsburgh with 32 points but was kept off the scoresheet on Friday, ending a four-game streak during which he recorded three goals and five assists.
OVERTIME
1. Penguins RW Patric Hornqvist, who is five assists shy of 200 for his career, has scored two goals and set up two others during his four-game point streak.
2. Buffalo assigned G Linus Ullmark and D Matt Tennyson to Rochester of the American Hockey League.
3. Pittsburgh assigned RW Josh Archibald, who has appeared in only two games this season, to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL.