Pens vs Sabres, February 17, 2013

 The Pens may have blown an early 2-0 lead but Marc-Andre Fleury stood up to a 17-shot 3rd period Buffalo onslaught, allowing Paul Martin's goal to hold up as the game winner.  Pittsburgh improved their road record to a very impressive 8-2-0.  Hopefully they'll take some of that magic back to Consol Energy Center as they prepare for a 3-game homestand starting Wednesday against the Flyers.  

I probably could have trimmed this post down a bit, but on a day where Sidney Crosby picked up three points against his frequent whipping boy, Ryan Miller, it seems appropriate to include 87 pics from the game.  Check them out after the jump.

 Warm-up

Beau Bennett appeared in his second NHL game.

Anthem.

Opening faceoff.

The first goal was too quick for me (and the Sabres, too).

Sid made it 2-0 just 87 seconds into the game.

I had to get a good shot of Beau to update his photo-less wikipedia page.

Oh damn, the Sabres decided to actually play the game.

I wasn't sure what the Pens were upset about but Sid & CFA both had some words for the officials at the end of the 1st.

As did Bylsma before the start of the 2nd.

It took nearly the full two minutes of a 5-on-3 but Vanek's deflection finally tied the game at 2-2.

Miller was solid in the 2nd and also benefited from a bit of luck as this shot sailed just wide.

Come on, Miller, hold your head up.

That's better.

Again at the end of the 2nd the Pens had some words for the refs.

Local high school kids provided the entertainment during the intermission shootout.

A few Knitting Lady fans came by for an autograph and a photo.

Steve Ott gave the Sabres a brief 3-2 lead in the 3rd.

The fans started taunting Fleury a bit.

Bring it on.  Fleury was a brick wall after Ott's goal, stopping 16 of 17 3rd period shots.

Miller, on the other hand, fell apart.  Though he didn't have much of a chance of stopping Dupuis on the game tying goal.

Tanner Glass had dropped the gloves for a spirited brawl with Cody McCormick earlier in the period.

Glass got out of the box and helped himself to some of Flower's water.

Paul Martin's goal (possibly tipped by Sid?) sent the many Pens fans into a bit of a frenzy.

Ha ha.

Miller pulled, the Pens attempt at the empty net just missed, leaving Buffalo with a chance to tie it in the closing seconds.

#1 and #2 scorers in the league.  Luckily, Vanek wasn't able to add to his totals in the 3rd and the Pens came away with the win.

The celebration was on hold momentarily as Steve Ott did something to Craig Adams, pissing off CFA and earning a 10-minute misconduct for Ott.

With that mess cleaned up, time to congratulate Fleury on his 8th win of the season.

Good stuff.  Time to take a little break now but we look forward to bringing you more pics from the March 16/17 games vs the Rangers and Bruins.

Until then, LET'S GO PENS!