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Fleury, Penguins shut down Sabres

Oct 6, 2013 - 4:20 AM Pittsburgh, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Marc-Andre Fleury posted 20 saves as the Pittsburgh Penguins took a 4-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.

Fleury came 4:54 away from his second shutout in as many games. He led the Penguins to a 3-0 whitewash of New Jersey on Thursday.

Sidney Crosby and Chuck Kobasew each had a goal in the first period, while Chris Kunitz scored on a penalty shot in the third period and Craig Adams added an empty-netter for Pittsburgh.

"When we've had to play defense, we've had five guys defending in the house and allowing Marc-Andre to see the puck," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "That's a huge key to our team and it's been a great success to this point."

Thomas Vanek had the only goal for the Sabres, who have dropped three straight to start the season. Jhonas Enroth gave up three goals on 34 shots.

"We didn't generate a lot of anything tonight," Sabres coach Ron Rolston said of his team's offense. "We just have to be a lot simpler than we are right now."

It took just 3:39 for the Penguins to grab the lead as Crosby snapped a shot on net from the low right circle that was stopped, but he followed up the shot and chipped it his own rebound for his second of the year.

Just over 10 minutes later, Pittsburgh made it a 2-0 game as a slap shot from the high slot by Brandon Sutter was redirected into the net by Kobasew.

Kuntiz was hooked by Mike Weber while on a partial breakaway halfway through the third and awarded a penalty shot. Kunitz faked to the backhand and was able to slip the puck between the pads of Enroth for a 3-0 advantage.

Buffalo finally got on the board with under five minutes to play as Cody Hodgson sent a pass from the right boards to the slot where Vanek redirected it on net.

Pittsburgh, though, sealed the win with 1:45 to play as Adams put the puck into the empty net moments after Enroth had made it to the bench for an extra attacker.

Game Notes

Buffalo starting goaltender Ryan Miller sat out the game with a lower-body injury and is listed as day to day. Also, defenseman Henrik Tallinder was out with an upper-body injury ... Pittsburgh hosts Carolina on Tuesday ... Buffalo plays at home against Tampa Bay on Tuesday ... Buffalo took two of three games from Pittsburgh last season ... Buffalo has scored just two goals on the season ... Kunitz had been unsuccessful on two previous penalty shots in his career.