BUFFALO, N.Y. _ Good luck finding a prettier goal than the one Sidney Crosby scored in the first period on Tuesday.
Nick Bonino, who has done a solid Crosby imitation of late, made sure it was more than just a sweet highlight.
Bonino scored in the third period to help lift the Penguins to a 3-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday at KeyBank Center, enabling the Penguins to clinch a playoff berth for the 11th consecutive season.
The Penguins (101) trail only the Washington Capitals (102) in the overall points race. The idle Blue Jackets have 100 and have now played one fewer game. The Blackhawks (99) were in action late in Vancouver.
Tuesday's win helped the Penguins improve to 46-17-9, 17-13-6 away from PPG Paints Arena. It stretched the Penguins' winning streak to three games, but it also came at a cost: Jake Guentzel absorbed a vicious hit from Rasmus Ristolainen at 8:46 of the first period and did not return.
There was no immediate update on Guentzel's condition. Ristolainen received a five-minute penalty and was ejected from the game.
Bonino, who beat Robin Lehner with a shot from the left circle that found its way through traffic at 14:31, scored his sixth goal in the past eight games.
Conor Sheary added an insurance tally at 16:28, when the rebound from his shot ricocheted off Buffalo defenseman Zemgus Girgensons and past Lehner.
For Crosby, his goal continued his punching-bag treatment of Buffalo. In his past 26 games against the Sabres, Crosby has points in 24 of the games, with 12 goals and 30 assists.
None, however, came like this.
After splitting two pairs of Sabres defenders while skating with the puck from behind the red line, Crosby used his right hand to fire a backhander top shelf and Lehner.
The power-play goal came at 19:51 of the first period, and gave him 41 on the season.
With 10 games to go, the juicy question becomes: Can Crosby get to 50?
His current pace puts him at 47, but when Crosby's going like this, it's smart business to factor in a monster night or two.
The wrench thrown into those plans could be Crosby's current line. Guentzel, who was bloodied and discombobulated by the Ristolainen hit, had locked down a spot to Crosby's left.
Those two, along with Sheary, had emerged as perhaps the best line in hockey, accumulating 10 goals and 26 points in the previous six games before Tuesday.
The power play afforded to the Penguins after Ristolainen's hit was a disaster. They mustered only two shots on goal and lost more momentum than they gained.
In the first 30 minutes of the game, Sheary, Chris Kunitz _ who assumed Guentzel's spot _ and Tom Kuhnhackl all enjoyed breakaway chances on the porous Sabres, but nobody could convert.
Sam Reinhart tied it for the Sabres at 2:09 of the third period on a second-chance goal made possible following a turnover from Frank Corrado.
Reinhart scored from a bad angle, but Matt Murray also didn't get over enough to the near post.
The Penguins had a huge effort to keep it 1-1 when Chad Ruhwedel was called for hooking at 9:44 of the third period.
Buffalo entered this one with the best power play in the league at 24.0 percent, but the Penguins were aggressive _ coach Mike Sullivan's orders following morning skate _ and didn't allow a shot on goal.
That set the stage for Bonino's game-winner and the Penguins' march to the postseason.
