BUFFALO, N.Y. -- — Jiri Kulich scored twice as part of a five-goal second period, and the Buffalo Sabres routed Pittsburgh 7-3 on Thursday night in an outing Penguins captain Sidney Crosby broke an NHL record for point-per-game consistency he shared with Wayne Gretzky.

Buffalo won its fourth-straight home game with Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, Tyson Kozak each securing a goal and assist. Mattias Samuelsson also scored, and backup James Reimer made 22 saves in winning his third consecutive start.

Crosby’s goal 8:49 in to cut Buffalo’s lead to 2-1 was his 80th point, to assure he’ll finish his 20th NHL season averaging at least a point per outing. The 37-year-old surpassed Gretzky, who finished all but his 20th and final NHL season in 1998-99 averaging a point a game.

Kevin Hayes and Blake Lizotte also scored for Pittsburgh, which dropped to 1-3-1 in its past five.

Tristan Jarry was pulled after allowing four goals on 12 shots, and two days after allowing four goals on seven shots in a 6-1 loss at Tampa Bay. Alex Nedeljkovic mopped up, allowing three goals on 18 shots.

Takeaways

Penguins: Continue unraveling on a night they entered having allowed an NHL-worst 261 goals.

Sabres: Erupted for seven goals despite a youth-laden lineup missing key veteran forwards Jason Zucker (personal issue), Joshua Norris (middle body) and Jordan Greenway (lower body).

Key moment

A 1:44 second-period span in which Kulich and Samuelsson put Buffalo up 4-1. Kulich scored with a 20-footer over the goalie’s right shoulder, and Samuelsson's shot from the right boards beat Jarry on the short side 5:20 into the period.

Key stat

The Sabres had 14 players register at least a point, including rookie Isak Rosen's first NHL point with an assist on Samuelsson’s goal.

Up next

Penguins host Ottawa on Sunday, and Sabres open three-game road swing at Philadelphia on Saturday.

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