They put in the effort, but still that wasn't good enough against the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.  The Buffalo Sabres twice had two goal leads against the Penguins but couldn't hold on in an eventual 5-4 overtime loss.  The only time the Penguins led was when they scored the game winning goal.

The Sabres built a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Evander Kane and Sam Reinhart on the power play, but the Penguins got back in it on a flukey goal off the skate of Ryan O'Reilly with seconds to play in the third period.

Jack Eichel gave the Sabres a two goal lead again early in the third, but the Penguins battled back to tie it 3-3.  Benoit Pouliot put Buffalo in front again late in the second period only to have Phil Kessel tie it 4-4 on a third period goal to set up overtime.

It took the Penguins just 16 seconds to win it in the extra period.  Conor Sheary buried a pass from behind the net from Sidney Crosby and the Sabres were sunk with their second straight overtime loss and third in four overtime games this season.

Robin Lehner faced 45 shots, stopping 40.

The Sabres are in Detroit on Friday night before returning to host Carolina on Saturday night.

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