Crosby wins it for Pens in overtime

BUFFALO - Sidney Crosby scored 43 seconds into overtime to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres last night.

Alex Goligoski scored twice and added an assist, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 32 saves to help the Penguins rally from a two-goal deficit.

Crosby snapped his nine-game goal-scoring drought when he tipped in Evgeni Malkin's shot past goalie Ryan Miller. The play survived a two-minute video review that confirmed Crosby's stick was under the crossbar when he touched it.

Pascal Dupuis also scored for the Penguins, and Malkin had three assists for Pittsburgh, which won for the second time in three games.

Ales Kotalik and Daniel Paille had a goal and assist each, and Clarke MacArthur also scored for the Sabres, who lost their second straight and third in their last four.

Pittsburgh 0 2 1 1 – 4

Buffalo 1 2 0 0 – 3

First period:

1, Buffalo, Paille 4 (Numminen, Mair), 1:00.

Penalty:

Orpik, Pit (interference), 14:00.

Second period:

2, Buffalo, Kotalik 8 (Paille, Mair), 5:23. 3, Pittsburgh, Dupuis 7 (Satan, Orpik), 6:18. 4, Pittsburgh, Goligoski 5 (Malkin, Fedotenko), 12:23. 5, Buffalo, MacArthur 9 (Kotalik, Numminen), 15:58 (pp).

Penalties:

Satan, Pit (tripping), :21; Malkin, Pit (tripping), 7:14; Godard, Pit, served by Sykora, minor-major (boarding, fighting), 14:46; Peters, Buf, major (fighting), 14:46.

Third period:

6, Pittsburgh, Goligoski 6 (Malkin, Staal), 11:17 (pp).

Penalties:

Boucher, Pit (hooking), 1:49; Paille, Buf (roughing), 10:35; Boucher, Pit (high-sticking), 13:26.

Overtime:

7, Pittsburgh, Crosby 14 (Malkin, Goligoski), :43.

Penalties:

None.

Shots on Goal:

Pittsburgh 11-6-3-2–22. Buffalo 7-15-13-0–35.

Power-play opportunities:

Pittsburgh 1 of 1; Buffalo 1 of 6.

Goalies:

Pittsburgh, Fleury 10-4-2 (35 shots-32 saves). Buffalo, Miller 14-9-4 (22-18).

A:

18,690 (18,690).

T:

2:30.

Referees:

Dan Marouelli, Justin St. Pierre.

Linesmen:

Jay Sharrers, Mark Wheler.

Leafs 6, Thrashers 2

ATLANTA - Matt Stajan scored two goals, including an empty-netter, and rookie goaltender Justin Pogge won his NHL debut in Toronto's second straight victory.

Alexei Ponikarovsky, Jeremy Williams and Niklas Hagman joined Stajan in scoring a goal for the second straight game for Toronto, which has won six of seven.

The Thrashers, outshot by 38-21, lost for the eighth time in their last nine home games.

Toronto 2 1 3 – 6

Atlanta 0 1 1 – 2

First period:

1, Toronto, Ponikarovsky 11 (Antropov, Stajan), :59. 2, Toronto, Je.Williams 5 (Moore, Blake), 10:43.

Penalties:

Deveaux, Tor (holding), 5:46; Ja.Williams, Atl (hooking), 15:04.

Second period:

3, Toronto, Stajan 8 (Antropov, Ponikarovsky), 17:36. 4, Atlanta, Armstrong 8 (Ja.Williams, Valabik), 19:51.

Penalties:

Armstrong, Atl (tripping), 2:45; Grabovski, Tor (tripping), 9:11.

Third period:

5, Toronto, Moore 7 (Kubina, Je.Williams), 10:06 (pp). 6, Atlanta, T.White 11 (Kozlov, Havelid), 14:14. 7, Toronto, Hagman 10 (Mitchell), 15:36. 8, Toronto, Stajan 9 (Antropov, Ponikarovsky), 18:45 (en).

Penalties:

Boulton, Atl (tripping), 3:27; Kozlov, Atl (roughing), 10:00; Perrin, Atl (slashing), 11:57.

Shots on Goal:

Toronto 18-12-8–38. Atlanta 6-6-9–21.

Power-play opportunities:

Toronto 1 of 5; Atlanta 0 of 2.

Goalies:

Toronto, Pogge 1-0-0 (21 shots-19 saves). Atlanta, Lehtonen 3-6-2 (37-32).

A:

16,413 (18,545).

T:

2:22.

Referees:

Gord Dwyer, Dave Jackson.

Linesmen:

Jonny Murray, David Brisebois.