PITTSBURGH – Ruslan Fedotenko had a goal and an assist and Sidney Crosby — in his first game since winning the Olympics for Canada — set up Sergei Gonchar’s 200th career goal to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins past the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 on Tuesday night.

Crosby, playing two days after beating United States goalie Ryan Miller for the winning overtime goal for Canada in Vancouver, could have opposed Miller again, but Sabres Coach Lindy Ruff chose to start backup Patrick Lalime.

Ruff said Miller deserved a night off after the emotionally draining two-week Olympic tournament in which Miller was chosen MVP.

The pro-Olympic buzz created by the memorable Canada-U.S. game was evidenced by the standing ovations given Miller and Crosby during pregame introductions — and, for perhaps the first time in his career, Crosby drew fewer cheers than an opposing player in his own arena. The ovation given Miller was noticeably louder and longer.

Miller watched the game from a Mellon Arena runway, where the fan sitting nearest to him wore a Crosby Canada Olympic jersey.

The Penguins lost three of their final four before the Olympic break before beating Buffalo for the third time in four games.

Fedotenko put Pittsburgh up 3-1 at 11:03 of the third — a goal the Penguins needed after Derek Roy scored at 15:21 on a shot that wasn’t originally ruled a goal. The puck entered and exited the net so quickly that the officials did not signal a goal until after a video review.

Gonchar put the Penguins up 1-0 with a shot from the point during a power play at 14:58 of the first, with Alex Goligoski and Crosby assisting.

Pascal Dupuis made it 2-0 by taking Fedotenko’s pass along the goal line and beating Lalime inside the near post at 3:13 of the second. Toni Lydman answered for Buffalo less than three minutes later.

 

KINGS 5, STARS 1: Alexander Frolov had a goal and two assists and Jonathan Quick stopped 31 shots as Los Angeles won at Dallas.

 

FLYERS 7, LIGHTNING 2: Mike Richards had a goal and three assists, and visiting Philadelphia used a five-goal third period to win its fifth straight.

 

CANUCKS 4, BLUE JACKETS 3: Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff scored 1:33 into overtime to give Vancouver a win at Columbus, Ohio.

Andrew Raycroft finished with 27 saves for the Canucks, filling in for Olympic gold medalist Roberto Luongo.

 

RANGERS 4, SENATORS 1: Ryan Callahan had two goals, and New York scored three times within 2:02 late in the second period to win at Ottawa.

 

THRASHERS 4, PANTHERS 2: Rich Peverley scored and added an assist to reach 100 career points, and Johan Hedberg made 34 saves as Atlanta won at home.

 

HURRICANES 5, MAPLE LEAFS 1: Chad LaRose had a goal and two assists and Justin Peters stopped 32 shots as Carolina won at Toronto.

 

ISLANDERS 5, BLACKHAWKS 3: Blake Comeau had his first career hat trick and ignited a four-goal, second-period rally to lift New York over visiting Chicago.

 

PREDATORS 4, OILERS 3: Jason Arnott scored the tie-breaking goal 5:02 into the third period, lifting Nashville over visiting Edmonton.

NOTES

FLYERS: Goalie Ray Emery needs surgery to repair his right hip and will miss the rest of the season.

Michael Leighton has started in Emery’s place and will likely be Philadelphia’s No. 1 goalie entering the playoffs.

 

DUCKS-BLACKHAWKS: Anaheim traded defenseman Nick Boynton to Chicago for future considerations.

 

LEAFS-PENGUINS: Toronto traded Alexei Ponikarovsky to Pittsburgh in exchange for forward Luca Caputi and defenseman Martin Skoula.

 

THRASHERS: Atlanta signed 48-year-old defenseman Chris Chelios, a three-time Norris Trophy winner as the NHL’s top defenseman. He has spent the season with the AHL Chicago Wolves.

 

SENATORS-ISLANDERS: Ottawa acquired veteran defenseman Andy Sutton from New York in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2010 NHL draft.

 

Copy the Story Link