Conor Sheary scored twice Thursday as the visiting Buffalo Sabres downed the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 in the season opener for both clubs.

Buffalo snapped a streak of 18 straight games between the two in which Pittsburgh got at least a point.

Sheary, a former Penguins winger who won two Stanley Cups with them, has four goals and six points in four games against his former team.

Rasmus Dahlin also scored for the Sabres, and Casey Mittelstadt had the primary assist on both Sheary goals. Carter Hutton stopped 28 of 29 Penguins shots.

Evgeni Malkin scored for Pittsburgh. Matt Murray made 38 saves.

Center Sidney Crosby, who led the Penguins with 100 points last season, was held to one shot. His linemate, Jake Guentzel, who had 40 goals last season, didn't have a shot.

Sheary opened the scoring at 5:23 of the first period. Mittelstadt won a puck battle along the right-wing boards and moved toward the near circle. He got a pass by Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin to Sheary low in the same circle. Sheary whipped it far side past Murray.

With Mittelstadt off for holding at 5:50 of the second, Malkin tied it with a power-play goal. At the top of the left circle, he took a cross-ice feed from Kris Letang, moved up to the dot and threaded the puck past a screen by teammate Patric Hornqvist and inside the near post.

Sheary struck again, this time on a power play after Dumoulin was penalized for holding. From near the edge of the crease, Mittelstadt chipped it back to Sheary, who swept it in from the low slot at 14:03 of the second for a 2-1 Buffalo lead.

Dahlin, a defenseman who was one of the top NHL rookies last season, got behind the Penguins off the rush and chipped the puck past Murray's glove to make it 3-1 with 43.8 seconds left in the second.

The Sabres held a 13-5 shot advantage in the second period and a 30-18 edge going into the third.

--Field Level Media