Buffalo's Maxim Afinogenov wheels around Mike Zigomanis and Kris Letang to set up his team's first goal on Friday. (Don Heupel/Associated Press)Drew Stafford and Paul Gaustad each scored their second goal of the game in the third period to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 4-3 comeback win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Sabres netminder Ryan Miller made 27 saves, several of them big, to preserve Buffalo's second consecutive win.
Gaustad was again able to exploit poor defensive coverage on the winner, sliding into the slot for the goal at 16:36. Jason Pominville and Jochen Hecht assisted.
"They're a great team and we know they have the firepower, but we stayed within our system and it paid off for us," said Gaustad.
Sidney Crosby scored twice for Pittsburgh, both assisted by fellow superstar Evgeni Malkin, with Tyler Kennedy notching the first Pittsburgh goal.
Malkin leads the NHL with 27 assists and 37 points.
The result denied rookie goaltender John Curry a win in his first NHL start. Curry, who replaced Dany Sabourin in the team's last game, finished with 28 saves.
"You can't blame him on any of the goals," said Crosby. "He made some big saves and kept us in it. He did a great job."
No. 1 netminder Marc-Andre Fleury hasn't played since suffering a groin injury on Nov. 15 against Buffalo.
After Kennedy put Pittsburgh up 1-0 at 10:29 of the first, the Sabres replied just 56 seconds later.
Maxim Afinogenov skated around two Penguins and then the back of the net, wheeling out front to pass to Stafford in the slot for his third.
Gaustad got his first of two on a power play midway through the second, with Stafford assisting. Gaustad found a gap in coverage in the slot and stuffed home his second attempt.
Crosby got that one back 34 seconds later. Malkin's shot caromed off the end boards, with Crosby at the side of the net to whack it mid-air into the net.
Curry was showing few nerves, stopping top Buffalo sniper Thomas Vanek in close.
The Penguins scored in the final minute of the second. Crosby faked a slapshot and threw Miller off guard, firing a wrister home. Malkin forced a turnover to begin the sequence of events.
Pittsburgh almost got another with 18 seconds left, but Miller slid across to make a huge save on Kris Letang.
After killing off a two-man disadvantage for 53 seconds early in the third, Buffalo outshot the Penguins 10-3 to complete their comeback.
"Killing that completely killed any type of momentum they had or could have had," Stafford said. "It all started there."
The Pens turned it over at the Buffalo blue-line just over three minutes into the period, and the Sabres quickly headed up ice.
Stafford buried Vanek's pass in the slot for a 3-3 score.
With the home win, the Sabres improved to 11-8-3. Pittsburgh fell to 13-6-3.
Crosby now has 30 points, tied for second in the NHL with Alexander Ovechkin of Washington, Marc Savard of Boston and Philadelphia's Simon Gagne.
Before the game, Buffalo honoured longtime Sabre centre Dave Andreychuk and Milt Ellis, who was the team's public address announcer for over 26 years.
With files from the Associated Press
