Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Maxime Lagace (31) celebrates his first career shutout with Jeff Carter after an NHL hockey game against the Buffalo Sabres in Pittsburgh, Saturday, May 8, 2021. The Penguins won 1-0. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jeff Carter scored and Maxime Lagace stopped 29 shots for his first career shutout as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Buffalo Sabres 1-0 on Saturday.
Lagace, making his first start in more than two years, got his seventh career win, and helped Pittsburgh clinch home-ice advantage in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Penguins were without Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith, their top two goaltenders, for the regular season finale.
“Probably, what I’ll remember most is when the buzzer sounded,” Lagace said. “It was such a relief. Within the last four minutes, I’d say I started to think about the shutout. It was creeping into my head a little bit and I wanted it so bad.”
Carter scored his 17th goal as the Penguins finished the regular season with 13 wins and points in 14 of their last 16 games. Pittsburgh also finished 22-4-2 at home, one of the best marks in the league.
Michael Houser, who grew up in northern Pittsburgh suburbs, made 22 saves for Buffalo. Houser made his fourth straight start for the Sabres, who used a NHL-high six goalies this season.
Lagace played with the Vegas Golden Knights when he made his last start on Feb. 1, 2019, against Carolina. Lagace, who played in his 18th NHL game, joined Pittsburgh as a free agent in the offseason, and split the year on the team’s taxi squad and minor league affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He served as the backup for five games with Pittsburgh, including the last two before Saturday’s start.
“Playing my first NHL game in two years, I wanted to keep it simple,” Lagace said. “I tried to have fun … I did have fun, and the boys played well in front of me. I’m obviously very happy with the result.”
Lagace stopped Drake Caggiula on a breakaway late in the second period and made a point-blank save on Victor Olofsson in the third, both with Pittsburgh preserving a one-goal lead.
“I read the pass, but the reaction on the (Olofsson) shot was probably instinct, honestly,” Lagace said. “When he shot it, I put my glove up and it hit. Sometimes you have to be lucky, and I’ll take it. …”
Carter scored the game’s only goal at 1:58 of the second period from Frederick Gaudreau. Carter had the first four-goal game of his career during an 8-4 win against the Sabres on Thursday. He has five of Pittsburgh’s last nine goals.
The Sabres endured an 18-game winless streak midway through the regular-season, but they won eight of their final 21 games. Buffalo missed the playoffs for the 10th straight season, but the Sabres outshot Pittsburgh 11-3 in the first period and 24-9, as they only trailed by a goal through 40 minutes.
“I think our guys advanced,” Sabres interim coach Don Granato said. “They have a taste of confidence. They should have had no confidence after giving up eight goals the other day. They came in from the drop of the puck and had confidence, and that’s progress.”
RANGERS 5, BRUINS 4
BOSTON (AP) — Mika Zibanejad scored two of New York’s four third-period goals and the Rangers ended their season with a victory over Boston to halt a five-game losing streak.
Alexis Lafrenitre and Vitali Kravtsov also scored in a wild third when the Rangers turned a 2-1 deficit to a 4-2 edge. K’Andre Miller added a goal for the Rangers, and Keith Kinkaid made 28 saves before leaving with an injury midway into the third. Igor Shesterkin finished up in net with seven saves.
David Pastrnak scored his 200th career goal, Brad Marchand had his team-leading 28th, and Patrice Bergeron and Nick Ritchie also scored for the Bruins.
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