BUFFALO — Alex Nedeljkovic scored a goal and an assist, in addition to making 39 saves, for the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 5-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabers at KeyBank Center on Friday.
Cody Glass and Bryan Rust each had a goal and an assist for Pittsburgh (19-20-8), which had lost the last three meetings. The Penguins were playing without defenseman Kris Letang, who was scratched shortly before the game due to illness.
Owen Power and Zach Benson scored a goal, while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 14 saves for the Sabers (17-22-5).
Power gave the Sabers a 1-0 lead on the power play at 15:16 of the first period. He kept the puck at the blue line before going to the top of the slot, where he beat Nedeljkovic with a sharp shot inside the right post.
Rickard Rakell tied the game with a one-timer from the right circle on a power play at 1:41 of the second period.
Anthony Beauvillier took a long throw from Glass before beating Luukkonen glove side on a breakaway 27 seconds later to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead.
-Glass doubled Pittsburgh’s lead on the power play at 11:43. Philip Tomasino rounded the opposing net before making a clever pass to Glass, who surprised Luukkonen with a shot from the slot.
Rust found the top corner with a wrist shot from the left circle to score the Penguins’ third power play goal and make it 4-1 at 1:09 of the third period.
After Luukkonen was pulled on a sixth skater, Benson redirected a pass from Tage Thompson to cut the deficit to 4-2 at 14:46.
Nedeljkovic, however, capped off his historic night by finding the back of the net empty at 17:18.
Nedeljkovic, who also scored two goals in the American Hockey League, is the first goalie in NHL history to have a goal and an assist in the same game.
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