Zemgus Girgensons scored the go-ahead goal at 15:22 of the third period and goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 40 saves Saturday as the visiting Buffalo Sabres topped the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1.

Mattias Samuelsson's shot from the right point hit at least two sticks on the way to the net, and Girgensons got to the puck and swiped it inside the right post to make it 2-1.

Alex Tuch and Rasmus Dahlin also scored for the Sabres, who have won two straight and three of four.

Rickard Rakell scored for the Penguins, who have lost two of three. Their 43 shots were a season high.

Pittsburgh goaltender Tristan Jarry made 29 saves.

The Sabres took a 1-0 lead at 2:53 of the first when Tuch scored short side on an uncontested shot from above the left hash marks.

That gave Tuch, who played after missing practice Friday because of illness, 10 points -- two of them goals -- in the past 10 games.

The Penguins seemed to have the stronger play in the first, when they outshot Buffalo 17-8 and got the puck behind Luukkonen twice, but they trailed 1-0 thanks to a couple of successful challenges by the Sabres late in the period.

At 15:50 of the first, Drew O'Connor appeared to score off a high-end backhand pass from Sidney Crosby. Buffalo challenged that Crosby had been offside, and the goal was disallowed.

With just over a minute left in the first, Jake Guentzel tipped a Crosby shot past Luukkonen, but the Sabres successfully challenged that Guentzel interfered with the goalie, and Pittsburgh again was denied a goal.

Luukkonen stopped Crosby on a breakaway in the first, and Rakell and Guentzel on breakaways in the second.

The Penguins got one that counted to tie it 1-1 at 7:49 of the third. During a five-on-three power play, Erik Karlsson, from the right circle, dished to Evgeni Malkin deep. Malkin immediately sent a touch pass back to Karlsson, whose shot was tipped past Luukkonen's right skate by Rakell.

Dahlin added an empty-netter with 1:26 left.

--Field Level Media