Turning the Tables: Sabres Come Back to Defeat Penguins, 4-3

The comebacks continued last night at HSBC Arena in Buffalo.

Unfortunately, the Penguins were on the wrong side of this one, blowing a 3-2 lead they held entering the final frame and losing to the Sabres, 4-3.

Drew Stafford scored twice for Buffalo, as did bunyan Paul Gaustad, who scored his first two goals of the entire season for the Sabres.

Sidney Crosby tallied twice for the Penguins. Tyler Kennedy also scored. John Curry had a fairly solid debut, stopping 28 of 32 shots -- several of which were outstanding with the game on the line in the 3rd period.

Make no mistake -- last night's contest was an excellent hockey game. Both squads were physical and played with emotion. The fact that neither team had more than a one-goal lead and countered each other on the scoreboard all night added to the intensity.

The difference in the game, however, was the Penguins play around their net. Both of Gaustad's goals, in particular, were the result of him being left alone in front of the cage. Of course, he may require that in order to score, but the Penguins were way too accomodating in that regard.

I haven't seen the Penguins lose track of people in front of their own goal with that much regularity in a long time. That type of defensive play used to be a staple around these parts, but not so the last 3 years with Michel Therrein in charge.

I hate to say it, but I even noticed Sidney Crosby ease up on the backcheck during a Sabres' 3-on-2. The guy he eased up on, Stafford, ended up completing a nice play for a goal.

Another culprit for the loss is probably obvious -- the power play. Continuing a trend of being among the league bottom feeders with the man advantage on the road, the Penguins got a goose egg for their 7 chances last night. In a close game, special teams can make the difference.

Last night was no exception.

The Penguins loss put them at 8-2-1 for the month of November. They'll have a chance to get the sour taste out of their mouth quickly, as they face-off against the New Jersey Devils at home tonight (7:30 PM EST).

It will be interesting to see if the Penguins play Janne Pesonen again or whether Ruslan Fedotenko, who was a healthy scratch so Pesonen could play, ends up back in the lineup. I have reason to believe Pesonen was in the lineup to showcase him to potential trade partners.

One guy who probably won't suit up this evening is defenseman Phillipe Boucher, who left the game 5 minutes in after suffering a .... yes, you guessed it .... undisclosed injury.

Expect Mark Eaton to take his spot in the lineup tonight.

Sabourin will start in goal.

Recap tomorrow ....