Sabres 6, Penguins 2
SABRES 6, PENGUINS 2: Derek Roy had two goals and an assist and host Buffalo routed Pittsburgh to snap its four-game losing streak.
Sabres captain Jason Pominville scored in the opening minute of the game and added a pair of assists as Buffalo beat the Penguins for only the second time in the last nine meetings.
Ryan Miller turned aside 24 shots, including a clean breakaway by the league's leading scorer, Evgeni Malkin, to end a five-game drought (0-4-1) against Pittsburgh.
Roy also had a shorthanded tally in his first three-point game since Nov. 11 and Christian Ehrhoff collected three assists to prevent Buffalo from losing four straight at home for the first time since Feb. 20, 2011.
Paul Gaustad, Drew Stafford and Tyler Ennis also scored for the Sabres, who bolted to a 3-0 lead and chased Penguins backup goaltender Brent Johnson at the three-minute mark of the second period.
Deryk Engelland and Jordan Staal scored for the Penguins, who surrendered six goals in a game for the first time since Dec. 16.
Buffalo got off to a fast start when Pominville netted his sixth goal in seven games by lifting a rebound past Johnson 52 seconds into the contest and Roy doubled the lead 3 1/2 minutes later.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Pittsburgh LW James Neal signed a six-year, $30 million contract extension that was announced Sunday morning. Neal scored his 30th goal Saturday - a career best - and established a career high with 56 points. ... During pregame warmups, a light from the arena ceiling crashed to the ice near Buffalo's blue line. After the glass was cleaned up, the Sabres got an extra five minutes to warm up. ... Malkin failed to score for the third straight game, his longest drought since the final five games in December.