Playoff hopes running out of time

ByABC News
March 31, 2014, 1:39 PM

— -- PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Konstantin Koltsov's goal late in the second period helped the Pittsburgh Penguins rally for a 2-2 tie with Buffalo on Saturday night, damaging the Sabres' slim playoff hopes. Koltsov converted Tom Kostopoulos' pass at 15:28 of the second period for his ninth goal of the season as Pittsburgh overcame a 2-0 deficit to extend its home unbeaten streak to seven (5-0-2). Chris Drury and J.P. Dumont scored for the Sabres, who are five points behind the New York Islanders for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Both Buffalo and the Islanders, who lost to Carolina on Saturday, have four games remaining. Buffalo, 7-2-1-3 in its last 13 games, almost won when Mike Grier deked goaltender Sebastien Caron and fired a shot off the right post with 1:55 left in regulation. Martin Biron made 37 saves for the Sabres, including five in overtime when the Penguins enjoyed a power play. Drury's 18th goal gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 13:53 of the first period when he beat Caron with a wrist shot from the left circle. It marked the first time since mid-February that Drury scored in consecutive games. Dumont made it 2-0 at 17:36 on the power play, scoring his 21st goal from the bottom of the left circle off Drury's pass from behind the net. Dumont has five goals in nine games. The Penguins cut the lead in half at 7:22 of the second period on the power play when Rico Fata shrugged off a check from Dmitri Kalinin in front of the net to convert Milan Kraft's pass for his 16th goal. It was the 13th consecutive game in which Pittsburgh scored a power-play goal.