*Photo from Sportsnet*
The Buffalo Sabres are officially the first team to be eliminated from playoff contention. Everyone saw it coming too. Jared McCann scored, Bryan Rust added the game winning goal, and the Pittsburgh Penguins topped the Sabres with a 3-2 win Saturday afternoon.
McCann got the Pens on the board 10:30 into the first to make it 1-0 early. In the second, Tage Thompson scored for the Sabres, but goals from Evan Rodrigues and Rust made it 3-1 Pittsburgh after two periods. In the 3rd, Casey Middlestadt scored for Buffalo, but that was all they could muster.
Rodrigues said of the win that "We're focused on where we are in the standings and trying to put ourselves in the best position moving forward and into the playoffs. I think we're taking it one game at a time. Our mentality is the next game, and we're just trying to get better as a team so we can be going strong the rest of the season into the playoffs."
Tristan Jarry was the starting goalie for Pittsburgh, earning the win on a solid effort. Jarry saved 28 of 30 shots in the victory, which knocked Buffalo out of contention. Jarry's record improved to 17-8-3 this season, while the Penguins jumped into second place in the East Division, with a 28-13-3 record.
Pens coach Mike Sullivan said of Jarry's performance that "Jarry was solid. He made some big saves down the stretch. I think our goaltending tandem has been really solid for quite some time now. These guys are making timely saves for us. Today was no different."
On the other side, Dustin Tokarski started in net and took the loss, although he still had a good night. Tokarski stopped 38 of 41 shots in the defeat. Tokarski saw his record go to 1-4-2 this season, while the Sabres have a dismal 11-26-7 record, dead last in the NHL.
Thompson said of the loss that "We didn't get the result we wanted tonight, but I thought we played a really well-rounded game. I think a couple of times we didn't get the puck in deep and make their defense turn, but I thought for the most part we worked really hard. I think that's the trend we've been seeing the last little while now. So it's good. I think we've got to learn from that and keep building."
The Sabres and Penguins face off again tonight, with Casey Desmith starting for Pittsburgh, and Michael Houser getting his NHL debut for Buffalo.
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