<p>BUFFALO, N.Y. — Casey DeSmith stopped 24 shots, and the Pittsburgh Penguins handed Buffalo its 10th straight loss with a 3-0 victory over the lowly Sabres on Saturday night.</p>
<p>Jake Guentzel scored the go-ahead goal by batting in his own rebound with 3:23 remaining in the second period. The power-play goal was set up by Evgeni Malkin, who has three goals and seven assists in a seven-game point streak.</p>
<p>The Sabres dropped to 0-8-2 in their past 10. The winless streak matches the fourth-worst in team history, and the longest since Buffalo dropped a franchise-worst 14 straight midway through the 2014-15 season.</p>
<p>It was DeSmith’s second shutout against Buffalo and No. 5 for his career. He made 26 stops for the Penguins in a 5-0 win over the Sabres on March 14, 2019.</p>
<p>Sidney Crosby, from deep in his own end, and Mark Jankowski scored empty-netters in the final minute as Pittsburgh completed a two-game sweep of Buffalo following a 5-2 win on Thursday night. The Penguins have won five in a row overall, matching the team’s longest win streak since Oct. 10-18, 2019.</p>
<p>Carter Hutton stopped 31 shots for Buffalo, which was shut out for the fifth time this season. It has scored two or fewer goals in seven of its past eight.</p>
<p>The Sabres were without captain Jack Eichel, who missed his third straight game and is out for what coach Ralph Krueger called the “foreseeable future” with an upper-body injury. </p>
<p>Buffalo also was minus rookie center Dylan Cozens, who had been elevated to the top line in place of Eichel. Cozens is day to day with an upper-body injury after being checked awkwardly into the boards Thursday.</p>
<p>Guentzel scored his team-leading 10th goal 16 seconds after Buffalo’s Colin Miller was sent off for hooking. </p>
<p>The Penguins worked the puck to Malkin in the right circle, where he fed Guentzel alone in front.</p>
<p>Pittsburgh limited Buffalo to just six shots in the third period in proving it can play a low-scoring contest.</p>
<p>Bryan Rust made a key defensive play by rushing back to prevent Buffalo’s Tobias Rieder from getting off a shot on a short-handed breakaway with 8:20 left.</p>
<p>The Sabres stuck to a tight-checking, patient approach, while attempting to generate chances off transition in keeping the game scoreless through the first 36 1/2 minutes.</p>
<p>It was much sharper defensive outing for Buffalo after the Penguins scored three of their four goals — not including an empty-netter — off odd-man rushes on Thursday.</p>
<p>Hutton, meanwhile, was sharp on the few chances the Penguins enjoyed Saturday. His best stop came 8 1/2 minutes into the second period when he closed his pads in time to stop Guentzel’s snap shot from the left circle.</p>
<p>Generating offense, however, continues to be an issue for Buffalo, which entered the game ranked 30th in the NHL in averaging 2.24 goals a game and last in having scored 34 times in 5-on-5 situations.</p>
<p>STREAKS</p>
<p>The Penguins improved to 18-2-3 in their past 23 games against the Sabres. They are 12-0-2 in their past 14 visits to Buffalo since a 6-2 loss on Feb. 18, 2012. </p>
<p>The Sabres extended their home winless streak to 0-7-1, their longest skid since going 0-5-3 from Jan. 9 to Feb. 5, 2014.</p>
<p>SPECIAL TEAMS</p>
<p>The Penguins’ penalty-killing unit went 2 for 2 and did not allow a power-play goal in two straight games for just the second time this season. The Sabres’ power-play unit is 0 for 15 in its past nine games.</p>
<p>NO REST FOR RISTOLAINEN</p>
<p>Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen has topped 21 minutes of ice time in five of eight games since missing seven recovering from a severe bout with COVID-19. </p>
<p>Krueger noted it’s difficult to keep the eighth-year player off the ice, which is why Ristolainen got a day off from practice on Friday.</p>
<p>“You tell him that,” Krueger said, when asked if he would consider resting Ristolainen when Buffalo plays on consecutive nights. “He is too competitive for that.” </p>
<p>SCRATCHES</p>
<p>Penguins: D John Marino was a game-time decision before missing his second consecutive outing with an upper-body injury.</p>
<p>Sabres: D Brandon Davidson played after being activated off the taxi squad, and replaced Matt Irwin, who was a healthy scratch. D Henri Jokiharju was loaned to the taxi squad.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Penguins: Open two-game home series against the Boston Bruins on Monday night.</p>
<p>Sabres: Host the Washington Capitals on Monday night.</p>
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