Pens 3 Sabres 1

When Zbynek Michalek scores...your team better win the game.  And so the Penguins did just that, getting both Michalek and James Neal's first goal in a Penguins uniform, with Mark Letestu adding an insurance goal.  The Penguins swept the season series with Buffalo for only the 2nd time in franchise history (the other time being 2007-2008), and have now won 6 in a row against Buffalo going back to last season.  The win did not come without its issues however.

The first period started off quickly...for the Sabres.  Rob Neidermayer opened up the scoring by blowing past (Can Rob Neidermayer actually blow past anyone?) a flat-footed Paul Martin and bowling over Marc-Andre Fleury while slipping the puck 5 hole.  It was Neidermayer's 2nd goal of the season, with his first coming this past weekend.  No...he has not missed any games.  The Penguins continued to play a lackluster first, even managing to fail on a 1:30 long 5 on 3 powerplay.  Chris Kunitz returned to the lineup in this game, but was not placed into his normal powerplay spot yet.

The Penguins came out with a much better effort in the 2nd period.  The "first line" of Neal-Letestu-Kovalev actually played like a first line, and dominated the rest of the game from here out.  The Pens quickly tied the game up 1:25 into the period when Deryk Engelland took a puck deep into the corner and passed it out to the slot to James Neal, who flicked a shot past Ryan Miller's left pad and in the net.  Zbynek Michalek decided it would be a good night to get his first goal as a penguin 3 minutes later, by lasering a slapshot past Ryan Miller high on the glove side.  Each team had 2 powerplays in the period afterwards, but neither got any strong scoring chances with either opportunity.

The third period was full of neutral zone play and both teams tightened up in a one goal game.  The Penguins played a suffocating third period, forcing Buffalo to the outside and into a few turnovers at the blue line.  The Pens even drew a couple penalties early in the third, but continued to look slow and deliberate on the powerplay and couldn't score on either chance.  With roughly 7 minutes to go, Michalek took a slapshot from the blue line which hit Letestu's stick right in front of Miller and dropped past him into the net.  The Penguins barely conceded a chance in the final 7 minutes, even when Buffalo had the extra attacker, and decided to have a little fun as Fleury attempted to score from the goal line.  Though Fleury failed in scoring, he played well with 29 saves in the win as the Penguins continue to keep pace with the Flyers and are 2 points behind the Eastern Conference leader.

3 Stars:  #3 - Fleury, #2 - Neal, #1 - Michalek

Notes/Thoughts:
- The pens went 0 for 7 on the powerplay.
- On a related note, I would much rather see Kovalev running the point than Paul Martin.
- The Sabres played without many of their regulars, as Thomas Vanek was a late scratch due to the flu.
- Chris Conner was scratched upon Kunitz's return to the lineup.
- On a related note here, how long before Talbot is scratched?  I'd rather see Conner than Talbot right now.