Penguins clinch first in East Division after shutout of Sabres

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Penguins clinched first place in the MassMutual East Division after a 1-0 win against the Buffalo Sabres at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday.

"We wanted to gain home-ice advantage," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "Obviously, we were thrilled that we were able to do that. Having said that, we know we're going to get a difficult opponent. All the teams that advanced are really good hockey teams."
Maxime Lagace made 29 saves for his first shutout in 16 NHL starts. He was playing his first NHL game since Feb. 1, 2019, with the Vegas Golden Knights. Goalies Tristan Jarry (upper body) and Casey DeSmith (lower body) are day to day for Pittsburgh, but each is expected back for the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"I didn't want to overcomplicate it," Lagace said. "I wanted to come in and do what I do at the AHL level. The same thing. My game doesn't change from down there to here. I've been working hard. I like where my game is at and I'm glad to see the result."

Jeff Carter scored his fifth goal in two games for the Penguins (37-16-3), who won nine of their final 11 regular-season games. Carter scored four goals in an 8-4 win against the Sabres on Thursday.
Pittsburgh clinched the No. 1 seed in the East when the Washington Capitals needed overtime to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 later Saturday. The Penguins, Capitals, Boston Bruins and New York Islanders have the four playoff berths from the eight-team division.
Michael Houser made 22 saves for Buffalo (15-34-7), which lost six of its final eight games.
"The effort that I thought we showed for the full 60 minutes, that was a lot of fun to play behind. ... I was really happy with the effort we showed," Houser said.

Carter put the Penguins ahead 1-0 at 1:58 of the second period when a pass from Frederick Gaudreau redirected off his shoulder and past Houser's glove. Carter has scored nine goals in 14 games since being traded to Pittsburgh on April 12 after scoring eight goals in 40 games with the Los Angeles Kings.
Drake Caggiula had a chance to tie it on a breakaway at 16:05, but Lagace made a stick save on his wrist shot.
"They should have no confidence going into this building today giving up eight goals the other day," Sabres coach Don Granato said. "They came in that game from the drop of the puck and had confidence. That's progress."
Lagace preserved Pittsburgh's lead at 10:41 of the third period, using his left arm to turn away Victor Olofsson's one-timer from the low slot.
"It was great to see," Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson said." I don't think we had our sharpest game. We really relied on him from the get-go. We felt comfortable with him. He was calm and poised back there. I thought he did a great job."
NOTES:Pittsburgh and Washington can finish tied in points (77) and regulation wins (29). The Penguins would win the second tiebreaker, regulation plus overtime wins (34-32). ...Pittsburgh center Evgeni Malkin remained on the bench for the final 8:48 of the third period for precautionary reasons, Sullivan said. Malkin was playing his fourth game since returning from a lower-body injury that kept him out the previous 23 games. Malkin's point streak against Buffalo ended at 15 games (seven goals, 15 assists). It was tied for the second longest against the Sabres in their history, behind teammate Sidney Crosby, who had a 19-game streak (10 goals, 26 assists) from Dec. 29, 2007-Nov. 8, 2014. … Houser allowed eight goals on 34 shots Thursday. He was raised in the Pittsburgh suburb of Wexford, Pennsylvania, after moving from Youngstown, Ohio. … Penguins forward Colton Sceviour had one hit and one blocked shot in 9:33 in his 500th NHL game. … Granato, who was named coach of the Sabres after Ralph Krueger was fired March 17, said after the game he had not started to think about his future with Buffalo.