BUFFALO, N.Y. — (AP) — Alex Nedeljkovic became the first goalie in NHL history to have a goal and an assist, and made 40 saves as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-2 on Friday night.
Rickard Rakell, Anthony Beauvillier, Cody Glass, and Bryan Rust also scored for Pittsburgh who ended a three-game losing streak.
Owen Power and Zach Benson scored for Buffalo and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 14 saves. The Sabres lost for the 18th time in 24 games (6-14-4).
Nedeljkovic’s win comes a day after former Penguins starter Tristan Jarry cleared waivers and was sent to the AHL.
Nedeljkovic had a secondary assist on Glass' goal with 8:17 left in the second period that gave the Penguins a 3-1 lead. He then scored when he sent the puck from behind the net down the ice and into an empty net with 2:42 left in the third.
Power opened the scoring with a power play goal with 4:14 to go in the first period.
Rakell and Beauvillier scored 27 seconds apart early in the second to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead, and Rust made it 4-1 at 1:09 of the third.
Benson cut the lead to 4-2 with 5:14 to play.
Sabres: Buffalo’s penalty kill,, which came in 22 for 25 over the last 10 games, went 1 for 4 against the Penguins.
Penguins: Pittsburgh pulled three points behind Boston for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Nedeljkovic’s first NHL goal came when he handled the puck behind his own net and floated the puck the length of the ice into the empty net.
Nedeljkovic’s goal made him the 16th goalie in NHL history to score. Minnesota’s Filip Gustavsson was the last to do it on Oct. 15 against St. Louis.
Sabres visit Seattle on Monday to open a four-game trip, and Penguins play at Washington on Saturday.
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