Jarry makes 29 saves in return, Penguins hold off Sabres

PITTSBURGH -- Tristan Jarry made 29 saves in his return from a lower-body injury, and the Pittsburgh Penguins won 4-2 against the Buffalo Sabres at PPG Paints Arena on Wednesday.

Jarry, who is 6-2-0 this season, missed seven games since last playing Nov. 3.

“That’s what I want. I want to come back seamlessly,” Jarry said. “The training staff, (goaltending coach Andy Chiodo), the coaches, they all did a great job. When you’re able to integrate back with the team like that, I think it helps a lot. ... You want to stay sharp. All the injured guys and the extras, we did a good job.”

Bryan Rust, Kevin Hayes, Mathew Dumba and Connor Dewar scored, and Ryan Shea had two assists for the Penguins (11-6-5), who had lost five of six (1-2-3).

“We’re all in this together,” Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse said. “So, we knew we needed a couple good days of practice. We knew we needed to find a way to get points. I think that’s what you saw there tonight.”

Tage Thompson had a goal streak end at six games, and Jack Quinn and Jason Zucker each had a goal and an assist for the Sabres (9-10-4), who had won four of five. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 15 saves.

“We’ve got to be better as a team,” Luukkonen said. “And myself, too, to kind of just not let the game slip away that easily. I think we had really, really solid things in the game, too, today. So, it’s frustrating that we kind of lose it the way like that.”

Dumba put Pittsburgh ahead 1-0 on its third and final shot on goal of the first period at 17:09, a wrist shot from above the right face-off circle that fluttered in off the stick of Buffalo defenseman Bowen Byram for his first goal since March 8.

Quinn could have tied it on a 2-on-1 at 19:39 of the second period, but tipped a pass from Ryan McLeod just wide of an open right side of the net.

Zucker later did tie it 1-1 at 7:20 of the third period, tipping in Quinn's shot from the right circle.

Rust scored 31 seconds later, giving the Penguins a 2-1 lead at 7:51. After having an initial attempt blocked by Conor Timmins, Rust followed the puck to the right circle for a wrist shot.

“On our heels a little bit. Obviously, they were able to tie that game up,” Rust said. “I think anytime you can have those momentum shifts, whether it's after goals, first (or) last minute of periods, I think those are big shifts. It was obviously nice to see that one go in.”

Hayes tapped in a pass from Erik Karlsson for his first goal of the season, making it 3-1 at 12:34.

Quinn cut it to 3-2 at 15:42 with a shot out front off a backhand pass from Zucker behind the net.

“It’s been going well,” said Quinn, who scored in a third straight game. “It’s nice to get on the board and help the team. ... I think, probably, it’s just going in. I think I’ve had a lot of chances lately.”

Dewar scored an empty-net goal at 19:02 for the 4-2 final.

The Sabres had five shots on goal in the first 34:22 before recording 26 in the final 25:38.

“I thought we got caught in a couple long shifts,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. “We had a line out there for at least two minutes. We had a D pair that didn’t get off for over two minutes. You’re getting it out, they’re getting it right back in. We got trapped in that situation where you’re trying to advance it and change players, and they’re coming right back at you.

“We’ve done that to teams and I felt that last six, seven minutes of the second period and then the third period, we really got on our game.”

NOTES: Thompson had seven goals in his previous eight games after scoring five in his first 14 this season. ... Pittsburgh forward Tristan Broz had two shots on goal in 11:30 of ice time in his NHL debut. ... Penguins forward Ville Koivunen played 11:33 of ice time in his return from missing three games with a lower-body injury.