PITTSBURGH _ It was not, in any shape or form, a game plan that should be copied and implemented at the youth level.
Spend the better part of the first period making careless decisions with the puck.
Take three penalties.
And eventually play so poorly it causes your starting goaltender to watch the rest of the game from the bench.
What the Penguins did at the start of Sunday's game against the Sabres at PPG Paints Arena could not have been worse, but they rebounded in a big way to snatch a 4-3 win.
Evgeni Malkin was terrific, a force for much of the night, and finished with a goal and an assist.
Conor Sheary was the hero, redirecting a Justin Schultz shot-pass at 17:04 of the third period for the winner. It marked the 18th goal of the season for Sheary, who returned Friday from a 13-game absence.
The assist on Sheary's goal was the third point of the night for Schultz, who now has five in his past two games.
Entering the game in the second period _ accompanied by the Penguins' interest in this one _ Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all 28 shots he faced to pick up the win in relief, his 16th of the season.
The Penguins (40-16-8) now have eight wins when trailing after two periods, second-most in the NHL. They improved to 27-4-3 at PPG Paints Arena this season.
Jake Guentzel tied the game at 16:14 of the third period, turning and tipping a Sheary shot. There was some question whether he touched the puck above the crossbar, but the goal upheld a replay review.
Facing a 3-0 deficit, the Penguins discovered some jump in the second.
They had a couple near misses on a power play when the Sabres were called for having too many men on the ice. Sidney Crosby had a good look from one knee in the slot. Guentzel drilled the left post. There was also a three-on-one break.
The Penguins broke through on Schultz's second goal in as many games _ and 11th of the season _ at 7:45 of the middle period. Malkin got the zone entry and passed to Phil Kessel in the left circle.
Kessel, displaying a boatload of patience, waited for Schultz to cut to the net and made a perfect pass.
Fleury made his presence felt at 8:14 of the second period, when he stopped Evander Kane on a breakaway with his right pad while sliding backward on his stomach.
Malkin pulled the Penguins to within one, 3-2, at 13:42, crushing a shot from the right circle that beat Buffalo goaltender Anders Nilsson glove-side. It gave Malkin 16 goals and 46 points at home this season, the most in the NHL.
The Penguins had an excellent chance to tie it when Tyler Ennis was called for tripping at 7:39 of the third period. Malkin got another look from the right dot. Mark Streit had one from the slot. But the Penguins couldn't get the equalizer.
Buffalo's Ryan O'Reilly opened the scoring with a goal at 6:19 of the first period, taking advantage of a poor outlet pass from Brian Dumoulin.
Dumoulin, from the corner, tried to backhand a puck up the right-wing boards, but it was picked off easily by Kane. Kane made a quick pass, and Brian Gionta found O'Reilly for an easy goal.
The Sabres' second goal came after the Penguins once more couldn't get the puck out of their zone.
Matt Murray tried to clear it himself. Matt Moulson knocked the puck down, fired a shot off Murray's chest and set up Gionta with the rebound, an easy goal that produced a 2-0 Buffalo lead at 14:53 of the opening period.
Jack Eichel made it 3-0 at 18:07 of the first.
Eichel, who became the second player to record a point against 29 other teams within his first two seasons _ Chicago's Artemi Panarin is the other _ finished a smart pass from Marcus Foligno.
After winning a net-front battle with Chad Ruhwedel, Foligno took a feed from Sam Reinhart and quickly sent it back out to a cutting Eichel, who extended his point streak to a career-high 10 games.
The Sabres held a 28-17 edge in attempted shots in the first period and a 21-13 lead in shots on goal, six by O'Reilly alone. In addition to the four giveaways, the Penguins took three penalties in the opening period.
It appeared as though Streit scored at 12:51 of the first, when he shot nearly crossed the goal line, but a video review proved to be inconclusive and kept it as a non-goal.
