updated 11:16 p.m. ET Nov. 29, 2005

PITTSBURGH - The Buffalo Sabres don’t need to give goalie Martin Biron much help these days. A strategical adjustment by coach Lindy Ruff and a fortuitous shot by Ales Kotalik provided exactly that.

Kotalik’s power-play goal early in the third period put Buffalo back in the lead and the Sabres won in Pittsburgh for the first time in nearly five years, beating the slumping Penguins 3-2 Tuesday night.

Maxim Afinogenov scored Buffalo’s first goal, then set up Kotalik’s game-winner about 5½ minutes into the final period with a cross-ice pass that Kotalik one-timed through goalie Marc-Andre Fleury’s pads for his 13th goal — and the Sabres’ only power-play goal in seven chances.

“We switched Ales off the top power play unit because they were taking him away,” Ruff said, referring to a Penguins defense that collapsed on Kotalik whenever he got the puck. “You would rather have Ales shooting. They did their homework. They didn’t want him shooting the puck, but he found a way to sneak one in.”

Penguins coach Eddie Olczyk preferred to call it a soft goal rather than a sneaky one.

“They got a lucky bounce and when you talk about soft goals, that was one you would call a soft goal,” Olczyk said.

With Biron making 30 saves to win his fourth in a row, the Sabres ended an 0-5-2 winless run in Pittsburgh since they last won there Dec. 2, 2000 — a few weeks before Mario Lemieux’s comeback game following a 3½-year retirement.

Lemieux returned again Tuesday after missing one game and two of his previous four with flu-like symptoms, but was held without a goal for his sixth consecutive game and the seventh time in eight games.

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Buffalo has won its last four and is 8-2-1 in its last 11. Pittsburgh lost its third in a row, fourth in five games and sixth in eight.

“We’ve been trying to get on a roll,” Biron said. “We went on a little skid there when we lost four in a row and five of six, but we’ve been able to bounce back and play well against some good teams. Pittsburgh had us going for a while, but we responded.”

Matt Murley gave the Pittsburgh an early 1-0 lead, a rarity for a Penguins team that has scored the initial goal only seven times in 25 games, but the Penguins were 1-for-9 on the power play.

“We had some good opportunities and the last couple of games we’ve been having a hard time finishing,” said Olczyk, whose team has scored more than three goals only once in 12 games. “We’re creating a lot but not finishing.”

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