Sabres cruise to win against Penguins despite Crosby setting NHL record

BUFFALO -- Sidney Crosby broke Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record for the most seasons averaging at least a point per game, but the Pittsburgh Penguins lost to the Buffalo Sabres 7-3 at KeyBank Center on Thursday.

Crosby scored in the first period to give him 20 such seasons and pass Gretzky, who averaged at least a point per game in each of his first 19 seasons. The 37-year-old center leads Pittsburgh with 80 points (26 goals, 54 assists) in his 20th season. The goal gave him the record because he can play a maximum of 80 games after missing two with an upper-body injury on Feb. 7 and 8.

“It’s hard right now after a loss like that,” Crosby, the Penguins captain, said of reflecting on the achievement. “I just think that there’s a lot of guys who’ve contributed to that so I’m thankful for the guys that I’ve played with that contributed to it. It’s a special milestone but obviously [you] play to win.”

Crosby also extended his point streak to nine games (14 points; seven goals, seven assists).

Jiri Kulich scored twice, and Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs and Tyson Kozak each had a goal and an assist for the Sabres (30-35-6), who have won three straight games. James Reimer made 23 saves, and Bowen Byram and Rasmus Dahlin each had two assists.

“I thought everyone came out with a lot of energy,” Tuch said. “I thought we stuck to our game plan. I thought we used our speed to our advantage, and it was all 20 guys going tonight.”

Tristan Jarry allowed four goals on 12 shots for the Penguins (29-34-11) before he was pulled for a second straight game in the second period. Alex Nedeljkovic made 15 saves.

Pittsburgh, which has lost three straight (0-2-1) and four of five (1-3-1), remained six points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Montreal has three games in hand.

“I think the guys are going into the game with the right intentions. We understand the circumstance we're in,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “It's not an easy circumstance. You know, I'm stating the obvious when I say that. None of us want to be here in the situation we're in. But we are. And so it's our responsibility to one another to bring our best every night. And that's what we're trying to do. …

“This team has competed extremely hard here down the stretch. And we've won a bunch of games because of it. And so we've hit a little bump in the road here. We've got to find a way to pull ourselves together and get ready for the next one. But it's not an easy circumstance, though.”

Thompson gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead 27 seconds into the first period, taking the puck from the right face-off circle and dragging it to the slot before beating Jarry stick side.

Krebs made it 2-0 at 4:44. Connor Clifton’s shot from the right side took a double deflection off Tuch’s stick and then Krebs’ stick.

Crosby cut it to 2-1 at 11:11 when he snapped a pass from Rickard Rakell past Reimer’s left arm from in front.

“It's remarkable,” Sullivan said of Crosby making history. “He's in such a rare company where he is right now with every milestone that he crosses. It just puts him in more elite company than he's already in. I just think when you think in terms of 20 seasons in a row with such consistency, it's an amazing accomplishment.”

Kulich increased the lead to 3-1 at 3:36 of the second period. He took a short drop pass from Byram at the left hash marks and put a wrist shot over Jarry’s right arm.

Mattias Samuelsson extended it to 4-1 at 5:20. Isak Rosen fed a cross-ice pass to Samuelsson in the right circle, and the defenseman beat Jarry short side, chasing the goalie. The assist was Rosen’s first NHL point in his 12th game.

“Isak had a nice assist there, first NHL point, so shoutout to him,” Tuch said. “I thought he played really well. It was really easy to play with [him] tonight. We had some good chemistry, some good opportunities there.”

Kulich scored from above the left circle for his second of the game to make it 5-1 at 11:34, and Kozak made it a 6-1 lead 28 seconds later when he backhanded in a loose puck that had trickled through Nedeljkovic.

“I thought [Kulich] was really good,” Thompson said. “He’s been playing really good hockey lately. I think just 200 feet. He plays well on both sides of the puck, and I think that’s why we get offense is we get the puck back. … He’s not forcing anything, just keeping it simple. Obviously, he’s got a really good shot, so anytime we can get him the thinking shoot first, usually that’s a good sign, and things will open up from there.”

Tuch pushed it to 7-1 at 19:34 with a snap shot from the left hash marks to the glove side.

Blake Lizotte cut it to 7-2 at 2:16 of the third period. He got his stick on a rebound in front before Dahlin inadvertently kicked the puck in.

Kevin Hayes knocked in a centering pass from Conor Timmins on the doorstep at 13:54 for the 7-3 final.

NOTES: Crosby's parents, Troy and Trina, were in attendance. “It’s nice to have different moments with them and I’ve been fortunate they’ve been [to] a lot of different games and memories and events and things like that. Nice to have them here tonight," he said. ... Crosby’s point streak is the second-longest by a player age 37 or older in Penguins history, behind Mario Lemieux’s 11-game streak from Oct. 12-Nov. 6, 2002. … Jarry allowed four goals on seven shots in a 6-1 loss at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday. … Pittsburgh defenseman Ryan Shea was minus-2 in 11:55 of ice time after missing seven games with an upper-body injury. … Thompson scored his fourth opening-minute goal with the Sabres, the sixth-most in team history behind Rick Martin (nine), Craig Ramsay (six), Gilbert Perreault (six), Mike Foligno (five) and Jason Pominville (five).