Pens top Sabres for 12th straight win

Marc-Andre Fleury made 34 saves to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to their 12th straight victory, 5-2 over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night.

Alex Goligoski and Michael Rupp scored 4:34 apart in the third period to seal a victory in a game the Penguins never trailed. Dustin Jeffrey and Arron Asham both scored first period goals for Pittsburgh, and Matt Cooke scored into an empty net.

Sidney Crosby set up Goligoski's goal to extend his point streak to 18 games — one short of matching a career best.

The Penguins (21-8-2) maintained their lead atop the NHL standings and matched a franchise-best by winning their seventh consecutive road game.

Fleury extended his career-best win streak to 11 and hasn't given up more than two goals in his past nine games.

Tyler Ennis and Jason Pominville scored for the Sabres (12-14-4), who dropped to 3-1-1 in their past five.

The Penguins' victory sets up an intriguing all-Pennsylvania midseason showdown between two of the NHL's top teams at Philadelphia on Tuesday. The Atlantic Division rivals opened play Saturday first and second in points.

Pittsburgh's win streak is the longest in the NHL this season and second longest in team history. The Penguins won 17 straight to set the NHL record in 1993.

The outcome Saturday wasn't decided until the third period, which began with the Penguins nursing a 2-1 lead.

After Goligoski and Pominville traded goals 51 seconds apart, Rupp scored with 3:17 remaining when he poked in Jeffrey's centering pass behind Ryan Miller.

The Penguins, coming off a 5-2 win over Toronto on Wednesday, appeared in control when Jeffrey and Asham provided them a 2-0 lead before the first period was 10 minutes old.

The Sabres finally responded late in the period by capitalizing on a two-man advantage. Fleury blocked Ennis' centering pass, but the puck landed directly on the forward's stick, and Ennis flipped it in the open side.

Crosby then took over in the second period, but failed to score despite several chances, the best coming within a three-minute span midway through the second period.

Skating in alone from the blue line, Crosby cruised through the middle and had Miller down only to backhand a shot over the top of the net. A little less than three minutes later, Crosby sneaked in behind the Sabres defense and had a partial break from the right circle. Miller got a glove on Crosby's initial shot, and then closed his pads to prevent him from converting the rebound.

Though Crosby had a four-game goal streak end, he did manage an assist. Driving up the right wing, he sent a cross-ice pass to Gologoski, whose shot from a bad-angle appeared to deflect in off of Sabres defender Jordan Leopold in front. Crosby now has 20 goals and 16 assists during his streak, and has failed to register a point in only four games this season.

The Penguins have also registered a point in 15 straight games (14-0-1), their longest streak since going 14-0-2 during the 2006-07 season.