NHL

Buffalo Sabres at Pittsburgh Penguins

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Crosby, Malkin lead Penguins past Sabres 6-5 in OT to cap milestone night

Sidney Crosby nets OT winner for Penguins

Evgeni Malkin became the 48th player in NHL history to score 500 career goals and Crosby became the 10th player in NHL history to reach 1,600 regular-season points in a career. Crosby, from behind the net, sent a between-the-legs pass in front to Malkin, who was sitting on the ice when he scored his goal.

Crosby reached the milestone when he recorded the secondary assist on Bryan Rust’s power-play goal at 11:01 of the first period. Rust scored his second goal with 46 seconds left to force overtime. Drew O’Connor scored a short-handed goal and Jesse Puljujarvi added his second of the season.

Tristan Jarry allowed three goals on five shots in the first period before he was pulled. Joel Blomqvist came on and finished with 26 saves.

J.J. Peterka, back after missing the last two games with a concussion, scored twice for Buffalo. Ryan McLeod, Tage Thompson and Jordan Greenway also scored for the Sabres and Alex Tuch had two assists. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 36 shots.

Takeaways Sabres: The Sabres nearly won consecutive games for the first time this season. Buffalo lost its first three by a combined 10-3 margin, but were unable to protect leads of 3-1 and 5-4.

Penguins: Pittsburgh won consecutive games for the first time this season.

Key moment Rust tapped in a loose rebound from the top of the crease with 46 seconds left in regulation to tie the score.

Key Stat The Penguins are 399-90-47 when Crosby and Malkin record a point.

Up Next Sabres continue a three-game road trip at Columbus on Thursday, and Penguins host Carolina on Friday before a four-game road trip.

Regular Season Series

PIT leads series 1-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 0:43 Tage Thompson Goal (3) Wrap-around, assists: Alex Tuch (3)
Goal 1st Period 3:08 Jordan Greenway Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: Jason Zucker (2)
Goal 1st Period 11:01 Bryan Rust Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Evgeni Malkin (7), Sidney Crosby (4)
Goal 1st Period 11:33 JJ Peterka Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Bowen Byram (2), Alex Tuch (4)
Goal 2nd Period 9:12 Drew O'Connor Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: Noel Acciari (2)
Goal 2nd Period 15:20 Jesse Puljujarvi Goal (1) Backhand, assists: Lars Eller (1), Drew O'Connor (1)
Goal 3rd Period 3:26 Evgeni Malkin Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: Sidney Crosby (5)
Goal 3rd Period 10:16 JJ Peterka Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: Henri Jokiharju (1)
Goal 3rd Period 10:56 Ryan McLeod Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Bowen Byram (3), Jason Zucker (3)
Goal 3rd Period 19:14 Rickard Rakell Goal (3) Backhand, assists: Bryan Rust (1), Evgeni Malkin (8)
Goal 4th Period 1:38 Sidney Crosby Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Erik Karlsson (3), Evgeni Malkin (9)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/buf.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originBUF https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/pit.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originPIT
17 Blocked Shots 14
21 Hits 18
6 Takeaways 11
33 Shots 43
0 Power Play Goals 2
1 Power Play Opportunities 5
0.0 Power Play Percentage 40.0
0 Short Handed Goals 1
0 Shootout Goals 0
25 Faceoffs Won 41
37.9 Faceoff Win Percent 62.1
17 Giveaways 23
6 Total Penalties 2
12 Penalty Minutes 4
Pittsburgh Penguins Pittsburgh Penguins Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Evgeni Malkin, C Day-To-Day Mar 27
Sidney Crosby, C Day-To-Day Mar 26
Blake Lizotte, C Out Mar 17
Filip Hallander, C Injured Reserve Feb 27
Caleb Jones, D Injured Reserve Feb 4
Buffalo Sabres Buffalo Sabres Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Noah Ostlund, C Out Mar 27
Jiri Kulich, C Injured Reserve Mar 6
Jordan Greenway, LW Injured Reserve Feb 25
Justin Danforth, RW Injured Reserve Jan 26

Game Information

PPG Paints Arena

Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Attendance: 15,644 | Capacity:

2025-26 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Buffalo 44 21 96 8
Tampa Bay 44 21 94 6
Montreal 40 21 90 10
Boston 40 24 88 8
Ottawa 38 24 86 10
Detroit 39 25 86 8
Toronto 31 29 75 13
Florida 35 33 73 3

2025-26 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Carolina 45 20 96 6
Pittsburgh 36 20 88 16
Columbus 38 23 87 11
NY Islanders 41 27 87 5
Philadelphia 35 24 82 12
Washington 36 28 81 9
New Jersey 37 32 76 2
NY Rangers 29 35 67 9
Full Standings