Pittsburgh captain loses teeth after notching highlight-reel goal

BUFFALO — After having his front teeth smashed out, Sidney Crosby wasn’t available to discuss his highlight-reel, one-handed goal that helped clinch an 11th consecutive playoff berth for the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.

But Crosby’s teammates had plenty to say about their captain following the defending Stanley Cup champions’ 3-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres.

Starting from inside the Pittsburgh zone, Crosby picked up a head of steam between the bluelines, weaving past all four Buffalo defenders before lifting a onehanded backhand shot into the top right corner of the Sabres’ net with nine seconds left in the first period.

It was his NHL-leading 41st goal of the season.

“It’s the play that everyone screws up trying to do in practice — but then he makes it look easy in games,” said Pittsburgh winger Nick Bonino.

“The sea parted for him there, only 15 second left, and then he really turned it on. I mean, there’s really nothing I can say that nobody else has. Sid does some pretty amazing things .”

Even Sabres goalie Robin Lehner was impressed.

“I think most goalies in the league are going to think he’s going to pull the puck back to his forehand,” said Lehner, who stopped 31 shots.

“Probably one or maybe two guys in the world can score a goal like that.”

Crosby was not in a position to speak after being highsticked in the face by Evander Kane with 1:25 remaining while attempting to score into an empty net.

Crosby went down in the corner clutching his bleeding face before eventually getting up and leaving the ice.

Coach Mike Sullivan would only say Crosby lost a couple of teeth. Kane was issued a double minor penalty for highsticking.

Bonino scored the go-ahead goal on a broken play with 5:29 remaining and Conor Sheary scored 1:58 later.

Matt Murray stopped 29 shots as the Penguins (46-17-9) improved to 8-1-1 in their past 10 games.

With 101 points, Pittsburgh vaulted ahead of Columbus into second place in the Metropolitan Division and remain a point behind the NHL-leading Washington Capitals, who defeated Calgary 4-2.

Injuries continued to mount for the Penguins, who are already playing without seven regulars, including four defensemen and center Evgeni Malkin.

Forward Jake Guentzel sustained a concussion about nine minutes in when he was blindsided by defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who was issued a five-minute major penalty for interference and ejected.

Guentzel was crossing his own blueline when he lost the puck and turned his head just as Ristolainen hit him.

“I don’t like the fact that he got ejected,” Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said. “It was just an unfortunate hit.”

Sam Reinhart scored for a Sabres squad that’s sputtering on offense. Coming off a 2-1 win at Detroit on Monday, Buffalo has just five goals in regulation in its past five games.

Pittsburgh improved to 11-0-1 over Buffalo since 2013.

The players were still buzzing about Crosby’s goal, his sixth in three games.

“Sid’s always been lethal with two hands on his stick; now one hand works, too,” said linemate Chris Kunitz.

“It’s pretty special to watch a guy like that.”