Jarry makes 35 saves, Penguins shut out Sabres for 4th straight win

PITTSBURGH -- Tristan Jarry made 35 saves in his return from an eye injury, and the Pittsburgh Penguins extended their winning streak to four with a 4-0 victory against the Buffalo Sabres at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday.

The shutout was Jarry’s third in 10 starts this season and 16th in the NHL. He missed a 4-3 overtime win at the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday because of eye swelling, which occurred after he was hit by a puck in his previous start against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.

“Obviously, I got stitches. It was something I didn't really expect,” Jarry said. “But my eye closed up, so I couldn't see anything for the last couple of days. So it was nice that the swelling finally went down and I was able to play tonight.”

Erik Karlsson scored twice, Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist, and Ryan Graves had two assists for the Penguins (7-6-0), who have outscored their opponents 20-5 during their winning streak.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 36 saves for the Sabres (7-7-1), who were coming off a 3-2 win at home against the Minnesota Wild on Friday.

"Simplifying is easy to say, a little more challenging for us to execute,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said. “We could've executed things a little more simple, more direct. When the puck's going to the net, get there, get more traffic there. Anticipate or read that as a group.

“There were moments that we did, but not consistently enough. You don't score, you don't win."

Malkin put Pittsburgh ahead 1-0 at 19:01 of the first period. He followed a shot from Graves to the near corner and, before Buffalo defenseman Mattias Samuelsson could get to it, sent a backhand in off the side of Luukkonen’s mask.

Malkin’s eight goals are his most through the first 13 games of a season since his rookie season in 2006-07, when he scored nine.

“If you look at the group we have, we’re wired for offense,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “Our tendency is to want to make plays all the time. I think the players are doing a great job at trying to stay disciplined. We’re capable of creating offense [in] different ways.

“We can create from below the goal line and hash mark just as well as off the rush. I think that has to be part of the fabric of our identity, becoming a team that’s hard to play against.”

Drew O'Connor made it 2-0 at 16:24 of the second period with his first goal of the season. He carried a pass from Lars Eller to above the right face-off circle and scored with a wrist shot that clipped Luukkonen’s blocker.

“They came out, they played hard and they really stuck to their game plan,” Buffalo captain Kyle Okposo said. “In saying that, I still think we did a lot of really good things tonight, too. I don't think the score was quite indicative of how the game went. We could've easily had a few goals in the first two periods.”

Karlsson extended the lead to 3-0 when his shot deflected in off the stick of Buffalo defenseman Erik Johnson on a power play 27 seconds into the third.

"They want to trade chances. We just can't let that happen,” Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin said. “We've got to play it simple sometimes, especially on a back-to-back. It was a bouncy game.”

Karlsson then scored an empty-net goal for the 4-0 final with 1:49 remaining. He has nine points (three goals, six assists) on a five-game point streak.

“As of late, it feels like it’s starting to come together a little bit more,” Karlsson said. "Things are falling into place a little bit easier and we’re starting to get the results to go with that. We've won a couple games where we haven’t played our best, which gives us confidence.

“I think the guys in general are playing more cohesive hockey together. Guys are starting to find that chemistry that you don’t have to think about. It’s coming a little more naturally. We’re starting to come together as a group.”

NOTES: Penguins captain Sidney Crosby had the secondary assist on Karlsson’s second goal, extending his point streak to eight games (four goals, six assists). He has at least one point in 12 of 13 games this season. … Samuelsson had two shots on goal and three hits in 18:42 of ice time in his return after missing three games with a lower-body injury. Buffalo used 11 forwards and seven defensemen with Samuelsson back. … Jarry’s 16 shutouts are the third in Penguins history, behind Marc-Andre Fleury (44) and Tom Barrasso (22).