Carter, Penguins recover to defeat Sabres in OT for fourth straight win

BUFFALO --Jeff Carter scored 1:36 into overtime to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a 4-3 win against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Friday.

Carter took a pass off his skate from Rickard Rakell after it went through the legs of Buffalo defenseman Rasmus Dahlin and scored glove side on a power play.
"I didn't see it come through the [defenseman's] legs there and it just hit my skate and kind of sat nicely, so it was a real nice play by 'Ricky,'" Carter said.
Pittsburgh had the man-advantage after Jeff Skinner was assessed a match penalty for cross-checking Jake Guentzel with 22 seconds remaining in the third period. Skinner will have a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety on Saturday.
"You don't want to see those kinds of plays in our game," Carter said. "It's pretty tough to watch, but Jake's tough. He was back and ready to go. So we'll take the power play and lucky enough to get the extra point tonight."

Skinner took exception to Guentzel hitting Buffalo goalie Craig Anderson's glove with his stick when the goalie had the puck covered.
"It wasn't much, but it was clear as day I was freezing it for three seconds ahead of time," Anderson said. "There's no reason to do that and then that threw us. And then he slashes 'Skinny.' Skinny slashes back, and before you know it, we're at the short end of the stick on that. That's just the way she goes."
Rakell had a goal and an assist, Evgeni Malkin had two assists, and Tristan Jarry made 28 saves for the Penguins (15-8-4), who won their fourth straight and are 9-1-1 in their past 11 games.
Casey Mittelstadt had three assists, and Anderson made 29 saves for the Sabres (12-13-2), who had won their previous two games.
"We've got to hold our composure and we've got to use that as a learning curve, learning tool for us," Anderson said. "It's one of those things where staying in the moment and getting the two points is more important than getting frustrated. That's what it was. It was just frustration on our part that we have to learn from."
Brock McGinn scored on a one-timer from the right face-off circle at 16:30 of the third period to give Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead.
Kyle Okposo tied it 3-3 at 18:30, scoring on a one-timer in the slot off a pass from Jack Quinn during a 6-on-4.
"We played a good hockey game tonight, and I thought that they were on their heels for most of the night and we had control of the play," Okposo said. "They made that push in the third, able to battle to back, tie the game, and just unfortunate result tonight."
Guentzel gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 15:36 of the second period after Malkin's pass deflected off the stick of Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson.

Pittsburgh is 6-for-20 with the man-advantage in the past five games.
"Ultimately, you've got to put the puck in the net and execute, and when you're able to do that, it feels good," Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said of the power play. "Hopefully that can build some confidence, some momentum. It's going to be the difference in games."
Victor Olofsson tied it 1-1 at 18:08 off a cross-ice pass from Tyson Jost after getting behind Crosby on a drive to the net. Skinner then scored 67 seconds later to put Buffalo ahead 2-1 when Tage Thompson found him alone in front.
Rakell tied it 2-2 at 2:53 of the third period. He swept in the rebound of a shot from Danton Heinen around a sprawling Anderson following a turnover by Sabres defenseman Owen Power.
"You saw when they jumped on the power play is when they came to life," Sabres coach Don Granato said. "Their first goal was a power-play goal. But to that point, 5-on-5, we just couldn't make them pay with some really good opportunities. And they were able to hang around."
NOTES:Jarry is 8-0-2 in his past 10 starts, the longest point streak by a Penguins goalie since Matt Murray went 9-0-1 from Jan. 7-Feb. 23, 2018. ... Guentzel extended his point streak to six games (three goals, six assists). … Skinner has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) during a six-game point streak. … Thompson has 15 points (eight goals, seven assists) during a career-tying six-game point streak. He is the second player in Buffalo history to reach 20 goals and 20 assists in 27 or fewer games, joining Pat LaFontaine (24 games in 1991-92; 27 games in 1992-93). … Pittsburgh forward Kasperi Kapanen had an assist and has six points (four goals, two assists) in his past five games after being a healthy scratch the previous seven. … Malkin extended his assist streak to four games (six assists). … Penguins defenseman Jeff Petry had one assist on his 35th birthday.