Sabres beat Penguins

Penguins
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"Getting the first goal was important, it gave us confidence," said Buffalo center Stu Barnes. "The Penguins are a dangerous team to take a lead on because teams with early leads have a tendencey to sit back and sometimes lose focus."

Dixon Ward and Jason Woolley scored and Richard Smehlik added an empty-netter with 25 seconds left for the Sabres, who improved to 7-0-1 in their eight last home games against Pittsburgh.

Jaromir Jagr, who failed on a key breakaway in the third period, had criticized Penguins' coach Ken Constantine in an interview with a newspaper in the Czech Republic sometime after the Penguins' 6-4 loss to Ottawa last Tuesday night.

"I don't like the way he prepares the team, and I'm not the only one among the players," Jagr was quoted as saying in the Prague daily MF Dnes. "His communication with us is just awful. Either he yells at us or he hides somewhere. Right now it's impossible to talk to him."

Jagr had a closed-door meeting with the coach after the game and refused comment afterwards, but didn't deny making the remarks about Constantine.

"We agree and disagree plenty," Constantine said. "All he cares about is winning and that's all I care about, too. As long as we share that fundamental, we get along more than my wife and I get along."