Final
BUF at PIT game report
Sabres
1–4
Penguins
Monday, September 21, 2026 · 7:00 p.m. ET · PPG Paints Arena
Penguins beat the Sabres 4–1 and earned it, out-chancing them 3.9–1.8 in expected goals and 14–6 in high-danger chances.
Team comparison
PITBUF
- 4Goals1
- 3.86Expected goals1.77
- 2.285-on-5 expected goals1.23
- 14High-danger chances6
- 28Shots on goal24
- 61Shot attempts52
- 515-on-5 shot attempts41
- 3:33Power-play time4:52
5-on-5 shares for PIT: 55.4% of shot attempts, 64.9% of expected goals.
Expected goals through the game
PenguinsSabresCircles 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.
Shot map
Sabres shooting ←→ Penguins shootingBigger dot = better chance · filled = goal · blocked shots not shown
By strength
| PIT at… | Time | Attempts | xG | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 on 5 | 50:45 | 51–41 | 2.28–1.23 | 2–0 |
| Power play | 3:33 | 6–9 | 0.31–0.49 | 1–1 |
| Shorthanded | 4:52 | 1–1 | 0.00–0.00 | 0–0 |
| Other (4 on 4, 3 on 3, empty net) | 0:50 | 3–1 | 1.27–0.05 | 1–0 |
Read pairs as PIT–BUF. “Power play” means PIT had the extra skater.
Goaltending
| Goalie | Saves | SV% | xGA | GSAx |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sergei Murashov PIT | 13/13 | 1.000 | 0.90 | +0.90 |
| Alex Lyon BUF | 16/19 | .842 | 1.78 | -1.22 |
| Joel Blomqvist PIT | 10/11 | .909 | 0.87 | -0.13 |
| Colten Ellis BUF | 8/8 | 1.000 | 0.94 | +0.94 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elmer Soderblom PIT | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1.13 |
| Andrei Kuzmenko PIT | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 0.41 |
| Hendrix Lapierre PIT | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0.40 |
| Bryan Rust PIT | 1 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 0.38 |
| Avery Hayes PIT | 1 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0.29 |
| Thomas Bordeleau BUF | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0.24 |
| Tristan Broz PIT | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0.24 |
| Justin Brazeau PIT | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0.24 |
| Jake Richard BUF | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.23 |
| Justin Danforth BUF | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0.22 |
Three stars
- ★B. RustPIT · 1G 2A
- ★★A. HayesPIT · 1G 0A
- ★★★H. LapierrePIT · 0G 1A
Scoring
Period 1
- 10:27PIT C. Dewar (from B. Rust, A. Kuzmenko)0–1
Period 2
- 12:16PIT B. Rust pp (from H. Lapierre, K. Letang)0–2
- 18:32BUF J. Richard pp (from T. Bordeleau, Z. Metsa)1–2
- 19:58PIT A. Hayes1–3
Period 3
- 18:13PIT E. Soderblom (from B. Rust, C. Dewar)1–4