Sabres leave their comeback too late, Pens win 4-3

The Pittsburgh Penguins can think themselves lucky that they escaped this game without it stretching into overtime. The game was played as the matinee game on Hockey Day in America and for the first period it failed to live up to its billing. It came to life a bit in the second and third.

Before the game had begun the  Penguins had announced that Matt Murray had been called up and that Marc-Andre Fleury would be playing today. It would appear from this move that Zatkoff's days as a Penguins are numbered. It isn't exactly a vote of confidence. If Zatkoff is sent down he will have to go through waivers but I wouldn't be surprised to see him clear.

The Sabres started the better team, which isn't surprising as the Penguins generally start slowly in early afternoon games. The Sabres put the pressure on the Penguins and managed to restrict their offensive chances. Their were a high number of moments were the Crosby line would start their shift in the defensive zone, effectively nullifying them for large periods of time.

You can't always keep Crosby quiet though. Crosby had a give and go with Daley who shot from the half-wall. His shot was tipped in by Hornqvist past Lehner to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead 9 minutes into the game. Pittsburgh's biggest error in this game was their inability to kill penalties.

Pittsburgh gave Buffalo 3 penalties throughout the game and they scored on two of them, both involved Zach Bogosian. The first was a rocket shot late in the first to tie it up at 1-1, Fleury had no chance. The second was an assist on Brian Gionta's tally 13 seconds after Matt Cullen scored a short-handed goal 7 minutes and 52 seconds in to the third to give the Penguins a 4-1 lead. Lehner managed to stop the puck going in but his momentum carried it in with him.

The second period was a bountiful one for the Penguins with Scott Wilson scoring his third goal in three games. Wilson has really grown confidence in his shot since his first goal and he isn't afraid to try now, he isn't "gripping the stick hard" as Errey would say. Phil Kessel scored his 19th of the season of a dish pass from Letang. Letang found Kessel in acres of space and after a slight delay he placed the puck past Lehner.

Zach Bogosian scored with 22 seconds left but the Sabres had left it too little, too late for their comeback to have a chance. The Penguins don't play until Wednesday now in a Rivalry night on NBCSN. That will be another good test but hopefully by then Malkin will be back.