Buffalo Sabres 1 – 4 Pittsburgh Penguins

NHL · September 21, 2026 · Final

🎧 Post-Game Report (audio)

Post-Game Recap

The Pittsburgh Penguins took down the Buffalo Sabres tonight by a final of four to one, and it was never really in doubt once Pittsburgh found their footing.

Connor Dewar got things started in the first period, wiring a wrist shot past ten minutes in to put the Penguins up early. Buffalo couldn't answer, and Bryan Rust made them pay in the second, extending the lead to two. The Sabres showed some life late in that middle frame — Jake Richard pulled one back with ninety seconds left — but before Buffalo could even exhale, Avery Hayes went unassisted just eighty-six seconds later to push it right back to three. That was the turning point. That was the moment the Sabres' window slammed shut.

Elmer Soderblom sealed it in the final two minutes of the third, and that was that.

The story of the night was Bryan Rust, who finished with three points — one goal and two assists — running the Pittsburgh attack from start to finish. Dewar and Soderblom both found the net with Rust's fingerprints on the play, and Pittsburgh's physicality backed it all up with twenty-four hits to Buffalo's fourteen.

The Penguins were simply the more complete team tonight, and four goals on twenty-eight shots tells you everything you need to know.

That's your post-game report. Sports Desk, signing off.

AI-generated post-game report composed from the official play-by-play and box score.

Who Scored — Scoring Timeline

Connor Dewar Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Bryan Rust (1), Andrei Kuzmenko (1) P1 10:27 · 0–1
Bryan Rust Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Hendrix Lapierre (1), Kris Letang (1) P2 12:16 · 0–2
Jake Richard Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Thomas Bordeleau (1), Zach Metsa (1) P2 18:32 · 1–2
Avery Hayes Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: none P2 19:58 · 1–3
Elmer Soderblom Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Bryan Rust (2), Connor Dewar (1) P3 18:13 · 1–4

Complete Play-by-Play

Show all 296 plays

Start of 1st Period P1 0:00

Hendrix Lapierre faceoff won against Tyson Kozak P1 0:00

Trevor Kuntar hit Justin Brazeau P1 0:16

Giveaway by Justin Brazeau P1 0:17

Jiri Kulich Snap Shot saved by Sergei Murashov P1 1:01

On-Ice Official P1 1:06

Ben Kindel faceoff won against Jiri Kulich P1 1:06

Net Dislodged Offensive Skater P1 1:20

Ben Kindel faceoff won against Jiri Kulich P1 1:20

Giveaway by Jack Rathbone P1 1:28

Jiri Kulich hit Ben Kindel P1 1:30

Giveaway by Thomas Bordeleau P1 2:07

Giveaway by Harrison Brunicke P1 2:09

Elmer Soderblom hit Thomas Bordeleau P1 2:11

Justin Danforth hit Owen Pickering P1 2:20

Puck in Benches P1 2:26

Tristan Broz faceoff won against Aidan McDonough P1 2:26

Dennis Gilbert hit Elmer Soderblom P1 2:30

Tristan Broz hit Zach Metsa P1 2:38

Icing P1 2:42

Riley Fiddler-Schultz faceoff won against David Gustafsson P1 2:42

Giveaway by Ryan Johnson P1 3:30

Tyson Kozak hit Trevor van Riemsdyk P1 3:30

Tanner Howe hit Ryan Johnson P1 3:35

Filip Hallander hit Conor Sheary P1 4:03

Icing P1 4:35

Ben Kindel faceoff won against Matthew Peca P1 4:35

Giveaway by Jack Rathbone P1 4:51

Ben Kindel Deflected Wide Left P1 4:57

Giveaway by Elmer Soderblom P1 5:34

Avery Hayes shot blocked by Ryan Johnson P1 6:22

Tyson Kozak shot blocked by Kris Letang P1 6:31

Puck in Netting P1 6:33

Jiri Kulich faceoff won against David Gustafsson P1 6:33

Avery Hayes Wrist Shot saved by Alex Lyon P1 6:47

Tanner Howe hit Zach Metsa P1 7:03

Justin Danforth hit Hendrix Lapierre P1 7:31

Ryan Graves Interference against Justin Danforth P1 7:39

Connor Dewar faceoff won against Justin Danforth P1 7:39

Ben Kindel Backhand saved by Alex Lyon P1 8:18

Icing P1 8:26

David Gustafsson faceoff won against Matthew Peca P1 8:26

Elmer Soderblom hit Jason Polin P1 8:42

Jiri Kulich Slap Shot saved by Sergei Murashov P1 8:50

Goalie Stopped P1 8:52

Matthew Peca faceoff won against David Gustafsson P1 8:52

Jack Rathbone shot blocked by Jason Polin P1 9:24

Jason Polin shot blocked by Owen Pickering P1 9:28

Trevor Kuntar hit Trevor van Riemsdyk P1 10:03

Giveaway by Tyson Kozak P1 10:17

Connor Dewar Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Bryan Rust (1), Andrei Kuzmenko (1) P1 10:27

Ben Kindel faceoff won against Jiri Kulich P1 10:27

Chase Pietila shot blocked by Connor Dewar P1 10:43

Ryan Graves hit Jake Richard P1 10:55

Takeaway by Avery Hayes P1 11:25

Giveaway by Avery Hayes P1 11:26

Thomas Bordeleau Wrist Shot Wide Right P1 11:44

Harrison Brunicke hit Thomas Bordeleau P1 11:50

Tanner Howe hit Radim Mrtka P1 12:01

Giveaway by Sergei Murashov P1 12:42

Liam Valente Wrist Shot Wide Right P1 12:43

Zach Metsa shot blocked by Kris Letang P1 12:54

Trevor Kuntar Wrist Shot Wide Right P1 13:23

Trevor Kuntar Wrist Shot saved by Sergei Murashov P1 13:35

Filip Hallander hit Vsevolod Komarov P1 13:39

Justin Brazeau Wrist Shot saved by Alex Lyon P1 13:50

Justin Brazeau hit Jack Rathbone P1 13:53

Harrison Brunicke hit Tyson Kozak P1 13:57

Andrei Kuzmenko Tip-In Wide Left P1 14:34

Bryan Rust Wrist Shot saved by Alex Lyon P1 14:43

Goalie Stopped P1 14:46

Ben Kindel faceoff won against Matthew Peca P1 14:46

Ryan Graves hit Matthew Peca P1 15:31

Ryan Johnson shot blocked by Ben Kindel P1 15:40

Liam Valente Wrist Shot saved by Sergei Murashov P1 15:44

Aidan McDonough Wrist Shot Wide Left P1 15:54

Takeaway by Owen Pickering P1 16:33

Icing P1 17:10

Hendrix Lapierre faceoff won against Tyson Kozak P1 17:10

Filip Hallander Tip-In saved by Alex Lyon P1 17:13

Goalie Stopped P1 17:16

Hendrix Lapierre faceoff won against Jiri Kulich P1 17:16

On-Ice Official P1 17:34

Hendrix Lapierre faceoff won against Jiri Kulich P1 17:34

Off-side P1 17:39

Jiri Kulich faceoff won against Hendrix Lapierre P1 17:39

Giveaway by Ryan Graves P1 17:49

Off-side P1 18:04

Ben Kindel faceoff won against Matthew Peca P1 18:04

Ryan Graves Wrist Shot saved by Alex Lyon P1 18:14

Goalie Stopped P1 18:16

Matthew Peca faceoff won against Ben Kindel P1 18:16

Bryan Rust Tip-In Wide Right P1 18:32

Ben Kindel shot blocked by Zach Metsa P1 18:42

Icing P1 19:45

Jiri Kulich faceoff won against Tristan Broz P1 19:45

Ryan Johnson Wrist Shot saved by Sergei Murashov P1 19:47

Goalie Stopped P1 19:49

Jiri Kulich faceoff won against Tristan Broz P1 19:49

End of 1st Period P1 20:00

Start of 2nd Period P2 0:00

Hendrix Lapierre faceoff won against Tyson Kozak P2 0:00

Giveaway by Zach Metsa P2 0:09

Trevor van Riemsdyk Wrist Shot saved by Alex Lyon P2 0:19

Bryan Rust Wrist Shot Off Crossbar P2 0:57

Giveaway by Chase Pietila P2 1:15

Jiri Kulich shot blocked by Thomas Bordeleau P2 1:23

Ryan Johnson Wrist Shot saved by Sergei Murashov P2 1:33

Icing P2 1:45

Matthew Peca faceoff won against Tristan Broz P2 1:45

Vsevolod Komarov Wrist Shot Wide Right P2 1:46

On-Ice Official P2 2:18

Riley Fiddler-Schultz faceoff won against Hendrix Lapierre P2 2:18

Giveaway by Connor Dewar P2 2:29

Icing P2 2:40

Tyson Kozak faceoff won against Hendrix Lapierre P2 2:40

Jason Polin Wrist Shot Above Crossbar P2 2:42

Tyson Kozak Tip-In saved by Sergei Murashov P2 2:47

Goalie Stopped P2 2:49

David Gustafsson faceoff won against Tyson Kozak P2 2:49

Trevor Kuntar Snap Shot saved by Sergei Murashov P2 3:13

Justin Danforth Slap Shot saved by Sergei Murashov P2 4:32

Giveaway by Ryan Graves P2 4:36

Matthew Peca shot blocked by Ryan Graves P2 4:41

Radim Mrtka Wrist Shot saved by Sergei Murashov P2 5:13

Bryan Rust hit Liam Valente P2 5:42

Off-side P2 5:52

Riley Fiddler-Schultz faceoff won against David Gustafsson P2 5:52

Puck in Crowd P2 6:09

Connor Dewar faceoff won against Riley Fiddler-Schultz P2 6:09

Trevor van Riemsdyk shot blocked by Zach Metsa P2 6:39

Puck in Netting P2 6:40

David Gustafsson faceoff won against Tyson Kozak P2 6:40

Trevor Kuntar hit Ryan Graves P2 6:56

Takeaway by Jack Rathbone P2 6:57

Jason Polin shot blocked by Chase Pietila P2 7:01

Avery Hayes shot blocked by Jack Rathbone P2 7:17

Filip Hallander Wrist Shot saved by Alex Lyon P2 7:57

Hendrix Lapierre Wrist Shot Hit Left Post P2 7:58

Puck in Benches P2 8:02

Jiri Kulich faceoff won against Tristan Broz P2 8:02

Liam Valente Backhand saved by Sergei Murashov P2 8:53

Liam Valente shot blocked by Owen Pickering P2 8:54

Matthew Peca Backhand saved by Sergei Murashov P2 8:56

Justin Danforth Wrist Shot saved by Sergei Murashov P2 8:57

Goalie Stopped P2 8:58

Connor Dewar faceoff won against Matthew Peca P2 8:58

Kris Letang hit Matthew Peca P2 9:23

Elmer Soderblom hit Zach Metsa P2 9:33

Tristan Broz Wrist Shot Above Crossbar P2 10:23

Dennis Gilbert Holding against Elmer Soderblom P2 10:30

TV Timeout P2 10:30

Justin Danforth faceoff won against Hendrix Lapierre P2 10:30

Radim Mrtka Wrist Shot saved by Joel Blomqvist P2 10:31

Hendrix Lapierre Slap Shot saved by Alex Lyon P2 11:24

Takeaway by Ryan Johnson P2 11:36

Jack Rathbone Tripping against Justin Brazeau P2 11:58

Hendrix Lapierre faceoff won against Justin Danforth P2 11:58

Tristan Broz Slap Shot Above Crossbar P2 12:07

Bryan Rust Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Hendrix Lapierre (1), Kris Letang (1) P2 12:16

Riley Fiddler-Schultz faceoff won against Connor Dewar P2 12:16

Vsevolod Komarov hit Harrison Brunicke P2 12:32

Harrison Brunicke shot blocked by Riley Fiddler-Schultz P2 12:44

Harrison Brunicke shot blocked by Riley Fiddler-Schultz P2 12:51

Connor Dewar shot blocked by Vsevolod Komarov P2 13:02

Tristan Broz shot blocked by Jack Rathbone P2 14:03

Andrei Kuzmenko Tip-In saved by Alex Lyon P2 14:09

Giveaway by Matthew Peca P2 14:15

Andrei Kuzmenko Tip-In High and Wide Right P2 14:19

Connor Dewar shot blocked by Vsevolod Komarov P2 15:02

Owen Pickering Wrist Shot saved by Alex Lyon P2 15:13

Owen Pickering Wrist Shot saved by Alex Lyon P2 15:30

Goalie Stopped P2 15:32

Jason Polin faceoff won against Hendrix Lapierre P2 15:32

Filip Hallander Wrist Shot saved by Alex Lyon P2 15:38

Goalie Stopped P2 15:42

Jason Polin faceoff won against Hendrix Lapierre P2 15:42

Avery Hayes hit Radim Mrtka P2 16:21

Jason Polin hit Owen Pickering P2 16:38

Thomas Bordeleau Wrist Shot Wide Left P2 16:42

Chase Pietila shot blocked by Thomas Bordeleau P2 16:57

Elmer Soderblom hit Justin Danforth P2 17:01

Thomas Bordeleau Wrist Shot saved by Joel Blomqvist P2 17:08

Bryan Rust Deflected saved by Alex Lyon P2 17:47

Goalie Stopped P2 17:49

Tristan Broz faceoff won against Matthew Peca P2 17:49

Tyson Kozak shot blocked by Trevor van Riemsdyk P2 17:56

Vsevolod Komarov Wrist Shot saved by Joel Blomqvist P2 18:00

Tristan Broz Holding against Liam Valente P2 18:07

Connor Dewar faceoff won against Justin Danforth P2 18:07

Thomas Bordeleau Wrist Shot saved by Joel Blomqvist P2 18:17

Jake Richard Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Thomas Bordeleau (1), Zach Metsa (1) P2 18:32

Riley Fiddler-Schultz faceoff won against David Gustafsson P2 18:32

Chase Pietila Wrist Shot saved by Alex Lyon P2 18:47

David Gustafsson Backhand saved by Alex Lyon P2 18:48

Vsevolod Komarov hit David Gustafsson P2 19:07

Off-side P2 19:09

Matthew Peca faceoff won against Connor Dewar P2 19:09

Icing P2 19:14

Matthew Peca faceoff won against Connor Dewar P2 19:14

Kris Letang shot blocked by Radim Mrtka P2 19:19

Avery Hayes Backhand High and Wide Left P2 19:26

Justin Danforth Wrist Shot Wide Right P2 19:34

Avery Hayes Backhand Wide Left P2 19:53

Takeaway by Avery Hayes P2 19:55

Avery Hayes Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: none P2 19:58

Tristan Broz faceoff won against Jiri Kulich P2 19:58

End of 2nd Period P2 20:00

Start of 3rd Period P3 0:00

Hendrix Lapierre faceoff won against Jiri Kulich P3 0:00

Filip Hallander Wrist Shot saved by Colten Ellis P3 0:23

Justin Brazeau Tripping against Zach Metsa P3 0:36

Justin Danforth faceoff won against David Gustafsson P3 0:36

Jiri Kulich Slap Shot saved by Joel Blomqvist P3 1:18

Jake Richard Slap Shot saved by Joel Blomqvist P3 1:34

Jiri Kulich shot blocked by Chase Pietila P3 1:41

Jiri Kulich Wrist Shot Above Crossbar P3 1:57

Giveaway by Matthew Peca P3 2:39

Connor Dewar Deflected Wide Left P3 2:46

Trevor Kuntar Tip-In saved by Joel Blomqvist P3 3:29

Riley Fiddler-Schultz Wrist Shot Wide Right P3 3:30

Takeaway by Radim Mrtka P3 3:36

Ryan Johnson shot blocked by Andrei Kuzmenko P3 3:40

Radim Mrtka shot blocked by Bryan Rust P3 3:51

Vsevolod Komarov hit Tanner Howe P3 5:00

Justin Brazeau Backhand saved by Colten Ellis P3 5:03

Hendrix Lapierre shot blocked by Justin Brazeau P3 5:34

Chase Pietila hit Liam Valente P3 5:40

Ryan Johnson shot blocked by Elmer Soderblom P3 6:29

Puck in Crowd P3 6:31

Connor Dewar faceoff won against Riley Fiddler-Schultz P3 6:31

Connor Dewar hit Aidan McDonough P3 6:41

Avery Hayes hit Ryan Johnson P3 7:11

Icing P3 7:21

Tyson Kozak faceoff won against Tristan Broz P3 7:21

Giveaway by Jack Rathbone P3 7:32

Owen Pickering hit Jason Polin P3 8:14

David Gustafsson hit Tyson Kozak P3 8:26

Giveaway by Tyson Kozak P3 8:27

Bryan Rust Wrist Shot saved by Colten Ellis P3 8:27

David Gustafsson Wrap-around saved by Colten Ellis P3 8:29

Dennis Gilbert shot blocked by Trevor van Riemsdyk P3 8:57

Ryan Graves hit Matthew Peca P3 9:28

Giveaway by Dennis Gilbert P3 9:40

Hendrix Lapierre Wrist Shot saved by Colten Ellis P3 10:07

Goalie Stopped P3 10:10

Matthew Peca faceoff won against David Gustafsson P3 10:10

Giveaway by Connor Dewar P3 10:21

Andrei Kuzmenko Tip-In High and Wide Left P3 11:14

Andrei Kuzmenko Slap Shot Wide Left P3 11:28

Puck Frozen - Goalie P3 11:31

Tyson Kozak faceoff won against Bryan Rust P3 11:31

Dennis Gilbert hit Tristan Broz P3 11:54

Tristan Broz shot blocked by Tyson Kozak P3 12:14

Avery Hayes Wrist Shot saved by Colten Ellis P3 12:23

Goalie Stopped P3 12:25

Hendrix Lapierre faceoff won against Riley Fiddler-Schultz P3 12:25

Giveaway by Riley Fiddler-Schultz P3 12:50

Giveaway by Kris Letang P3 12:54

Giveaway by Radim Mrtka P3 12:57

Off-side P3 13:01

David Gustafsson faceoff won against Matthew Peca P3 13:01

Takeaway by Liam Valente P3 13:06

Liam Valente Slap Shot saved by Joel Blomqvist P3 13:10

On-Ice Official P3 13:12

Matthew Peca faceoff won against David Gustafsson P3 13:12

Jack Rathbone shot blocked by Tanner Howe P3 13:15

Jack Rathbone Wrist Shot saved by Joel Blomqvist P3 13:22

Takeaway by Harrison Brunicke P3 13:26

Giveaway by David Gustafsson P3 13:58

Giveaway by Justin Danforth P3 14:01

Elmer Soderblom shot blocked by Jack Rathbone P3 14:09

Ryan Graves shot blocked by Vsevolod Komarov P3 14:24

Ryan Graves hit Vsevolod Komarov P3 14:36

Tyson Kozak hit Hendrix Lapierre P3 14:49

Owen Pickering Wrist Shot Wide Left P3 15:10

Harrison Brunicke Wrist Shot Wide Left P3 15:18

Harrison Brunicke shot blocked by Tyson Kozak P3 15:24

Giveaway by Liam Valente P3 16:04

Giveaway by Connor Dewar P3 16:07

Giveaway by Liam Valente P3 16:21

Riley Fiddler-Schultz Wrist Shot saved by Joel Blomqvist P3 16:41

Giveaway by Kris Letang P3 17:00

Elmer Soderblom Wrist Shot Hit Right Post P3 17:30

Icing P3 17:35

Connor Dewar faceoff won against Matthew Peca P3 17:35

Matthew Peca Tip-In Wide Left P3 18:01

Elmer Soderblom Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Bryan Rust (2), Connor Dewar (1) P3 18:13

David Gustafsson faceoff won against Tyson Kozak P3 18:13

Filip Hallander Backhand saved by Colten Ellis P3 18:48

Giveaway by Trevor Kuntar P3 18:52

Giveaway by Joel Blomqvist P3 19:11

Radim Mrtka shot blocked by Riley Fiddler-Schultz P3 19:11

Chase Pietila Wrist Shot saved by Colten Ellis P3 19:42

End of 3rd Period P3 20:00

Game End P3 20:00