March 5, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Buffalo Sabers defenseman Rasmus Dahlin (26) and defenseman Owen Power (25) celebrate Power’s goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the second quarter at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Josh Norris and Owen Power each had a goal and an assist as the Buffalo Sabers earned their fifth straight win, 5-1, against the host Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.
Ryan McLeod, Alex Tuch and Mattias Samuelsson also scored for the Sabers. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 27 saves.
Brian Rust scored and Artur Silovs made 21 saves for the Penguins, who have lost 3 of 4 (1-2-1).
McLeod scored short to give Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 12:00 of the first period. He poked the puck away from Ben Kindel inside the Sabres zone, caught up with it in the neutral zone, attempted a breakaway, and then slipped a backhand five-hole to Silovs.
Rust pulled Pittsburgh even with his short time of 14:48. He collected a loose puck in the neutral zone, skated to his left, then cut toward the net, going backhand to forehand and past Luukkonen’s left skate.
The Sabers started the game in the second quarter. Rasmus Dahlin and Evgeni Malkin engaged in a battle at the Sabers net just 38 seconds into the frame, with Dahlin cross-checking Malkin and the Penguins veteran responding with a slash to the side of Dahlin’s face.
Dahlin received a two-minute minor, Malkin received a two-minute major for a cross-check and a five-minute major for a slashing, which was assessed a game misconduct that led to a long power play by Buffalo.
Norris had a wrist shot blocker for Silovs at 4:10 to give the visitors a 2-1 win with the man advantage. Pittsburgh was challenged for goaltender interference when Josh Doan went toe-to-toe with Kris Letang, but after review, the call on the ice stood.
With the Sabers short on numbers and a Penguins penalty delayed, Tuch nailed a shot from the Power’s blue line to put it up 3-1 with 6:18 to play.
The Power then went up 4-1 with their first even-strength tally at 10:30 p.m. He sneaked into the left circle to take a cross-ice feed from Norris and fired a wrist shot down Silovs’ right arm.
Samuelsson scored an empty goal at 16:53 in the third quarter of the final, which ended in a 5-1 win.
–Field level media
