Penguins hold off Sabres, move into second place

Evan Rodrigues claimed ignorance when the subject was broached Saturday evening.

After his current team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, defeated his former team, the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2, at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, the Penguins forward was asked if he was aware the ex-employer formally was eliminated from postseason contention for the 10th consecutive season.

“I didn’t even know that,” Rodrigues said. “I don’t think it was on anyone’s mind for us. We’re focused on where we are in the standings and trying to put ourselves in the best position moving forward into the playoffs.”

The Penguins are still a little ways away from securing a playoff berth for the 14th straight year, but Saturday’s victory against a beleaguered opponent inched them closer in that pursuit. If nothing else, it gave them sole possession of second place in the East Division with 59 points, one more than the idle New York Islanders.

The Washington Capitals sit in first place with 62 points.

Saturday’s contest against the Sabres was probably not as close as the score indicated. The Penguins largely controlled puck possession, at least for the first 40 minutes. Were it not for a spirited effort by Sabres goaltender Dustin Tokarski, who made 38 saves on 41 shots, the result would have been more lopsided.

A goal off of Tokarski’s backside gave the Penguins the game’s first lead 10 minutes, 30 seconds into regulation. Taking a pass at the right point of the offensive zone, Penguins defenseman Mike Matheson pumped a slapper on net. Tokarski fought off the puck, pushing a rebound to the left corner.

Penguins forward Jared McCann retrieved the puck and shuffled it to the crease, where it bounced off of the seat of Tokarski’s pants and deflected into the net for McCann’s 12th goal of the season.

Rodrigues got his sixth goal 5:57 into the second period. After Penguins forward Teddy Blueger swiped a pass behind the Sabres’ net, he slid a backhand pass to the left circle for Rodrigues, who ripped a wrister past Tokarski’s glove hand on the far side.

The Sabres responded quickly at 6:41 of the second. After stealing a pass attempt by Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry, Sabres forward Tage Thompson ripped a wrister from the slot for his sixth goal.

A power-play goal by Penguins forward Bryan Rust at 12:15 of the second restored a two-goal lead. Taking a pass above the right circle of the offensive zone, Penguins forward Jake Guentzel dished the puck to forward Sidney Crosby above the opposite circle. Moving past the faceoff dot, Crosby zipped a pass to the front of the crease, where Rust planted his stick on the ice and deflected the puck past Tokarski’s left skate for his 17th goal.

After going 0 for 3 with their power play during Thursday’s 2-1 home shootout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, the Penguins placed emphasis on being crisper with the man advantage versus the weak Sabres.

“Against (Philadelphia), we didn’t do that,” McCann said. “So we kind of stressed that (Saturday). And the power play got a big goal for us.”

It got a little bigger when Sabres forward Casey Mittlestadt collected his eighth goal on a power-play chance at 11:44 of the third period to make it a one-goal game.

A late surge by the Sabres was turned away by Jarry. He finished with 28 saves on 30 shots to improve his record to 18-8-3 while the Penguins improved their station in the East Division and got two points closer to the postseason.

“We’re trying to win each game that we go into here,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “Every game is important. We haven’t accomplished a thing to this point, and we understand that.”