Jiri Kulich scored twice for the Buffalo Sabres in a 7-3 win against the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night.
Tage Thompson, Peyton Krebs, Tyson Kozak and Alex Tuch each had a goal and an assist. Defensemen Bowen Byram and Rasmus Dahlin each had two assists, and James Reimer made 23 saves for the Sabres (30-35-6, 66 points), who have won five of seven.
Sidney Crosby scored to set an NHL record with his 20th season averaging at least one point per game. Blake Lizotte and Kevin Hayes also scored for the Penguins (29-34-11, 69 points), who have lost three in a row.
Tristan Jarry stopped eight of 12 shots for Pittsburgh before he was replaced by Alex Nedeljkovic, who finished with 15 saves.
Buffalo scored 27 seconds into the game when Thompson toe-dragged across the slot on a 2-on-1 before scoring his 36th goal of the season for a 1-0 lead.
Krebs scored on a redirection to extend the lead to 2-0 at 4:44 of the first.
Crosby fired the puck into the net from the slot to cut it to 2-1 at 11:11 and record his 80th point in his 72nd game this season. He passed Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky for the most seasons averaging a point a game.
The Sabres came back with five straight goals in the second period.
Kulich scored on a one-timer from the left hash marks at 3:36.
Mattias Samuelsson scored with a wrist shot from the right circle to make it 4-1 at 5:20 and end Jarry’s evening.
Kulich greeted Alex Nedeljkovic with a wrist shot from above the left circle for a 5-1 lead at 11:34.
Kozak scored off a rebound to make it 6-1 at 12:02, and Tuch capped the second-period barrage with a wrist shot from the inside edge of the left circle for a 7-1 lead with 26 seconds left.
Lizotte was credited with a goal after he poked at the puck in the crease and it went off the skate of Dahlin and into his own net, cutting it to 7-2 at 2:16 of the third.
Hayes redirected a puck into the net to make it 7-3 at 13:54.
–Field Level Media
