At the Horn | Sabres 7 - Penguins 3 

Jiri Kulich scored twice during a five-goal second period by the Buffalo Sabres, who extended their winning streak to three games with a 7-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins at KeyBank Center on Thursday.

Bowen Byram (0+2), Peyton Krebs (1+1), Rasmus Dahlin (0+2), Tyson Kozak (1+1), Tage Thompson (1+1), and Alex Tuch (1+1) all had multi-point performances along with Kulich. Mattias Samuelsson also scored a goal, assisted by Isak Rosen for the latter’s first NHL point.

James Reimer started for the fourth time in the last five games and earned his third straight win with 22 saves. He backed a 3-for-3 performance by the Buffalo penalty kill.

Sidney Crosby, Blake Lizotte and Kevin Hayes scored goals for the Penguins. Tristan Jarry allowed four goals on 12 shots before giving way to Alex Nedeljkovic, who made 15 saves on 18 shots.

Buffalo improved to 10-2-0 in its last 12 home games.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Period

Thompson set the tone for the night just 27 seconds into the contest, cutting to the slot and rifling a shot past Jarry for the game’s first goal. Dahlin initiated the play by flipping the puck from deep in his own zone to Zach Benson, who sent Thompson over the blue line.

Krebs deflected a Connor Clifton shot for Buffalo’s second goal at 4:44.

The Penguins cut into the Sabres’ lead with Crosby’s goal, scored with 8:49 remaining in the period.

Second Period

The Sabres took control of the game with five straight goals and emerged from the period leading 7-1.

Kulich ignited the run 3:36 into the period. Bowen Byram carried the puck through the middle of the offensive zone and dropped a pass to the rookie, who fired a wrist shot past Jarry’s blocker. Samuelsson squeezed a shot from the right circle inside the near post to increase the lead to 4-1 just 1:44 later.

The Penguins replaced Jarry with Nedeljkovic following Samuelsson’s goal, but the results remained the same. Kulich picked the corner with a shot for his second of the night, then Kozak buried a rebound for the sixth Buffalo goal 28 seconds later.

Following a pair of highlight-reel saves by Reimer – one of which stopped Lizotte on an attempt to bat the puck out of mid-air – Tuch scored the seventh Buffalo goal with 25.1 seconds remaining.

Third Period

An attempt by Krebs to clear a loose puck from the Sabres’ crease accidentally pushed it past the goal line for Pittsburgh’s second goal, which was credited to Lizotte.

Jacob Bernard-Docker delivered a hard hit on Connor Dewar along the boards later in the period and then fought the Penguins forward, his second fight in four games with the Sabres.

Hayes buried a pass through the crease for Pittsburgh’s third goal with 6:06 remaining.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

PHOTO GALLERIES

UP NEXT

The Sabres open a three-game road trip in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon. Coverage on MSG begins at 12:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 1.