Final
PIT at BUF game report
Penguins
3–1
Sabres
Saturday, September 26, 2026 · 3:00 p.m. ET · KeyBank Center
Penguins beat the Sabres 3–1 and earned it, out-chancing them 2.9–2.3 in expected goals and 11–9 in high-danger chances.
Team comparison
BUFPIT
- 1Goals3
- 2.29Expected goals2.87
- 1.645-on-5 expected goals2.55
- 9High-danger chances11
- 24Shots on goal24
- 51Shot attempts51
- 385-on-5 shot attempts47
- 6:24Power-play time2:11
5-on-5 shares for BUF: 44.7% of shot attempts, 39.1% of expected goals.
Expected goals leave out shots at an empty net (BUF 0.00, PIT 1.34); they're in the “Other” row of By strength.
Expected goals through the game
SabresPenguinsCircles mark goals
Each step is a shot; the bigger the step, the better the chance. A goal on a small step was a low-percentage finish. Shots at an empty net add no step.
Shot map
Penguins shooting ←→ Sabres shootingBigger dot = better chance · filled = goal · blocked shots not shown
By strength
| BUF at… | Time | Attempts | xG | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 on 5 | 50:57 | 38–47 | 1.64–2.55 | 0–2 |
| Power play | 6:24 | 13–2 | 0.65–0.32 | 1–0 |
| Shorthanded | 2:11 | 0–0 | 0.00–0.00 | 0–0 |
| Other (4 on 4, 3 on 3, empty net) | 0:28 | 0–2 | 0.00–1.34 | 0–1 |
Read pairs as BUF–PIT. “Power play” means BUF had the extra skater.
Goaltending
| Goalie | Saves | SV% | xGA | GSAx |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen BUF | 15/17 | .882 | 1.88 | -0.12 |
| Arturs Silovs PIT | 23/24 | .958 | 2.29 | +1.29 |
| Colten Ellis BUF | 6/6 | 1.000 | 0.98 | +0.98 |
GSAx above zero means the goalie stopped more than an average goalie would have, given the shots faced.
Most dangerous shooters
| Player | G | SOG | Att | HD | ixG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Robertson PIT | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.81 |
| Sidney Crosby PIT | 1 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0.80 |
| Ville Koivunen PIT | 1 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 0.60 |
| Evgeni Malkin PIT | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0.43 |
| Konsta Helenius BUF | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0.41 |
| Jack Quinn BUF | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0.40 |
| Hendrix Lapierre PIT | 0 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0.36 |
| Egor Chinakhov PIT | 0 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0.34 |
| Rutger McGroarty PIT | 0 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0.31 |
| Louis Crevier BUF | 0 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0.22 |
Three stars
- ★R. McLeodBUF · 1G 0A
- ★★S. CrosbyPIT · 1G 0A
- ★★★V. KoivunenPIT · 1G 0A
Scoring
Period 1
- 09:00PIT S. Crosby (from T. Novak, D. Carlile)1–0
- 10:56PIT V. Koivunen (from H. Lapierre, B. Rust)2–0
Period 3
- 11:30BUF R. McLeod pp (from O. Power, N. Ostlund)2–1
- 18:55PIT N. Robertson (from R. Rakell, T. van Riemsdyk)3–1