Tage Thompson had an assist to extend his point streak to nine games (10 points; five goals, five assists), and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 27 saves for the Sabres (37-19-6), who have outscored their opponents 19-8 during the streak.
Bryan Rust scored the lone goal for the Penguins (31-17-13), who have lost two straight and three of four (1-2-1). Arturs Silovs made 21 saves.
The teams traded short-handed goals 2:48 apart in the first period.
Ryan McLeod put Buffalo ahead 1-0 on a breakaway at 12:00 with his NHL-leading fifth short-handed goal of the season. He tipped an attempted pass from Ben Kindel off the boards past Kris Letang and went backhand through Silovs’ five-hole.
Rust then tied it 1-1 during a Sabres power play at 14:48, driving to the net past Norris and going backhand-forehand around Luukkonen.
Evgeni Malkin was ejected 38 seconds into the second period. He was given a game misconduct for a slash to the head of Buffalo defenseman Rasmus Dahlin. Malkin and Dahlin each received a minor for cross-checking, and Malkin got a five-minute major for slashing.
Norris scored on the ensuing power play, giving Buffalo a 2-1 lead at 4:10 with a wrist shot just outside the crease on a rebound off a point shot from Bowen Byram that deflected off Josh Doan. Pittsburgh challenged the play for goaltender interference but it was upheld after a video review.
Alex Tuch made it 3-1 with a short-handed goal during a delayed penalty at 6:18, tipping a point shot from Power for his 25th of the season.
Power extended the lead to 4-1 at 10:30 on a wrist shot from the left face-off circle that went in off Silovs’ blocker.
Mattias Samuelsson scored an empty-net goal with a spinning shot from the other end at 16:53 of the third period for the 5-1 final.
Red-hot Sabres cruise past Penguins, push winning streak at 5
