Goals
Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | OT | Final |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | OT | Final |
Sacred Heart | 0 | 0 | 4 | x | 4 |
Penn State | 2 | 2 | 1 | x | 5 |
Guy Gadowsky may not have been behind either bench, but the contest was eerily similar to a Penn State hockey game.
In the third preseason game held at Pegula Ice Arena, the Buffalo Sabres topped the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 in overtime Monday night.
While the game came down to the wire, with Jack Eichel netting the winner with just eight seconds to play in the extra session, the Sabres seemed to have the game put away after the second period. Up 4-1 after 40 minutes, the Sabres were outshooting the Penguins 37-9.
Instead, as we’ve seen happen with the Nittany Lions in recent years, the Sabres took their foot off the gas. Though the Penguins had just four shots in the third, they leveled the contest before the final period was half gone.
The Sabres regained their form shortly after the tying goal, leading to Eichel’s heroics in the 3-on-3 overtime period.
Though it took a while for the Penguins-leaning crowd to get engaged, the third preseason game that Pegula Ice Arena has hosted once again lived up to the hype.
Hockey’s popularity has grown exponentially in central Pennsylvania with Penn State going Division-I, but having one of the NHL’s two Pennsylvania franchises making regular trips to Hockey Valley can only help grow the game further in Centre County.
How It Happened
The Penguins opened the scoring on their first shot of the game four and half minutes in, as Andrew Agozzino knocked a shot from the slot through the legs of Sabres goalie Carter Hutton.
Just over a minute later, the Sabres responded. Defenseman John Gilmour jumped into the rush and fired a wrist shot over Casey DeSmith’s glove.
Despite heavily outshooting the Penguins, the Sabres wouldn’t beat DeSmith again until near the end of the period. With just over a minute remaining, former Penguin Conor Sheary beat Hutton over the glove once again.
Midway through the second, the Sabres doubled their lead. After a terrific save by Tristan Jarry, the Sabres maintained possession, leading to Henri Jokiharju firing a shot from the top of the circle through the legs of the Penguins goalie.
Five minutes later, the Sabres extended their lead with a power play tally. Tage Thompson knocked a point shot down then lifted a backhand shot past a scrambling Jarry.
Less than a minute into the third period, the Penguins began to mount a comeback. Hollidaysburg native Sam Lafferty jumped on a loose puck and snuck a shot through Jonas Johansson.
A few minutes later, the Penguins pulled to within a goal after a solo effort by Adam Johnson. Johnson picked up the puck in the neutral zone, came in on a partial breakaway and lifted a shot over Johansson’s pad.
Barely a couple minutes later, Ryan Haggerty leveled the game at four, redirecting a point shot by Jack Johnson past Johansson.
As he did two years prior, Jack Eichel lifted the Sabres to victory in overtime, roofing a breakaway shot with just eight seconds remaining in the extra period.