Captain Jack Eichel scored twice and Sam Reinhart had a goal and an assist Saturday as the visiting Buffalo Sabres recorded a 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Zemgus Girgensons and Jeff Skinner also scored and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen added two assists for Buffalo, which has won four of its last five games.
Goaltender Carter Hutton made 41 saves to improve to 5-1-0 in his career against Pittsburgh.
Evgeni Malkin scored both goals for the Penguins, who have lost back-to-back games for the first time since Nov. 29-30.
Tristan Jarry, who had won four straight starts, made 21 saves.
Buffalo seized a 1-0 lead 14 seconds into the game. A clearing attempt by Malkin behind his net went into the skates of the Sabres' Kyle Okposo, who set up Girgensons in the slot for his 11th goal of the season.
Reinhart doubled the advantage at 6:48 of the first period with an unassisted goal off a turnover at the blue line. Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang attempted a pass to captain Sidney Crosby but Reinhart tipped the puck in the air and retrieved it. He moved in alone from the left point and lifted the puck past Jarry.
Eichel's 34th goal, this one on the power play, gave the Sabres a 3-0 lead at 10:51 of the first period. He snapped it short side from the left dot to extend his point streak to seven games.
At that point, Pittsburgh had given up nine straight goals dating to Tuesday.
Malkin scored the only goal of the second period. Malkin took advantage of a turnover and skated around lunging defenseman Jake McCabe before beating Hutton at 11:10 to make it 3-1.
Skinner restored the three-goal cushion when he tipped a pass from Marcus Johansson between Jarry's pads at 5:39 of the third period. His first goal in 23 games made it 4-1.
Eichel effectively sealed it with another power-play goal, this time with a blast from the left circle at 12:17 of the third.
Malkin's 20th goal made it 5-2 with 2:03 left in regulation.
--Field Level Media
