Penguins Outgun Sabres in Shootout

From an X’s and O’s standpoint, it wasn’t the prettiest game to watch. Penguins coach Mike Sullivan, sporting a cut on his noggin that required stitches a la Eddie Johnston, rated the contest “sloppy” in his postgame comments. Rightfully so. But the Pens’ 5-4 shootout victory over Buffalo last night before an appreciative throng at PPG Paints Arena sure was a heck of a lot of fun to watch.

Our boys didn’t look so hot in the early going. Displaying considerably more hop, the Sabres outshot us, 14-11, over the first 20 minutes and snatched a two-goal lead. It wasn’t until Drew O’Connor gathered in a loose puck and struck from the high slot six minutes into the second period that the Pens’ competitive juices began to flow. Once they did we took over, overshooting the visitors by a whopping 29-13 margin over the final 45 minutes.

Still, after a would-be tying goal by Bryan Rust (kicking motion) was disallowed and the Sabres grabbed a 3-1 lead on a power-play tally late in the period by uber-skilled Victor Olofsson, I thought we’d bought the farm.

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