PITTSBURGH — When all the variables were added up, it wasn't supposed to happen for the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night. They were without veteran forwards Tim Connolly and Ales Kotalik, both of whom were home nursing injuries. They were on the road playing the second half of back-to-back games.

In case you didn't hear, they were a defensive disaster at home the previous night against Western Conference mediocrity Columbus. And if the aforementioned facts weren't enough to anticipate a tough night in Pittsburgh, they were playing a Penguins team that had won five straight and played for the Stanley Cup five months ago.

The situation called for the Sabres taking their lumps against Sid and the Kids and trying again Wednesday night in Boston. For the better part of 2 1/2 periods, the Sabres were conducting a "how-to" clinic for winning on the road before imploding in a 5-2 loss before 17,132 fans in Mellon Arena.

"We played real solid for 50 minutes, but 50 minutes doesn't win you hockey games," Sabres captain Craig Rivet said. "We seem to be having breakdowns defensively that are costing us right now. Last game, it was the beginning. Tonight, it was the last 10 minutes. We're going to work to clean these things up."

The cleanup crew had quite a mess scattered across the Igloo on Saturday, a twist because the Sabres had been so tidy for most of the game. They scored first, adhered to a simple style, played sound defense, made very few mistakes and had a strong performance from goalie Ryan Miller before falling apart.

Pittsburgh, of course, has plenty of players capable of inflicting damage. The Penguins had problems gaining momentum throughout the game, but they left the Sabres running for cover once they did. Ultimately, they won by three goals in what had been a very strong game by the visitors.

Jordan Staal scored the winner with 4:33 remaining on a bang-bang hookup with Matt Cooke after getting a pass in the slot and added another into an empty net with 24 seconds remaining. In between, Ruslan Fedotenko put away the Sabres when he buried a pass from Evgeni Malkin about a minute after Staal scored his first goal.

"It's a tough loss, one that sits in your stomach and is tough to swallow," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "When you play [well] like that and you lose, you feel like upchucking."

Jason Pominville and Thomas Vanek had given the Sabres a 2-1 lead going into the third period. Malkin finished with a goal and three assists for the Penguins, who have beaten Buffalo three straight times in the Igloo.

"We had them running for a while," Pominville said. "The frustrating part about all of this is that we played so well for 50 minutes and blew this game away in the last 10. We handed them opportunities. You give guys like Malkin and Staal opportunities, and they'll make you pay."

Connolly and Kotalik, key figures in the Sabres' recent glory days, didn't make the trip to Pittsburgh. Connolly was suffering from a bruised chest after getting leveled by Keith Tkachuk last week against St. Louis. He returned against the Blue Jackets and logged a team-high 21 minutes, six seconds night in a 6-1 loss but was too sore to play Saturday. Kotalik was undergoing more tests after suffering a hamstring injury Friday.

The Sabres were 6-1-1 when scoring the first goal, but they knew no lead was safe against a Pens team that had scored 27 goals in the previous five games (two goals came via shootout wins). Pittsburgh entered the game with five victories this season when trailing going into the third period, and they had won three straight in overtime or a shootout.

Buffalo began tossing two points away when Henrik Tallinder was sent to the penalty box for tripping up old friend Miroslav Satan. Sidney Crosby had been mostly quiet until making a perfect cross-ice pass to Alex Goligoski for a power-play goal that tied the game, 2-2, with 8:17 remaining in the third period. Just like that the Sabres were in trouble.

"We know what skill they have," Vanek said. "We were happy about the lead and how we played. On the game-winner, I could have done a better job. It pretty much lost the game. I have to be better. We gave up too many good chances against a skilled team."