At the Horn | Sabres 3 – Penguins 2

Effective special teams, coupled with timely goal scoring and strong goaltending allowed the Buffalo Sabres to skate away from Pittsburgh with a 3-2 victory Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena. With the win, the Sabres remain unbeaten in exhibition play this preseason, pushing their record to 3-0-0, including two wins against the Penguins. Buffalo has outscored their opposition 16-6 through their first three contests.

Forwards Graham Slaggert and Anton Wahlberg each found the back of the net, along with defenseman Nikita Novikov, while goaltenders Michael Houser (17 saves) and Scott Ratzlaff (10 saves) combined for 60 minutes of work in-between the pipes. Buffalo’s penalty kill went 4-for-4, while their power play was 1-for-2 on the night.

“I thought we played a great game tonight,” said Rochester Americans head coach Michael Leone, who will serve as the acting head coach for the Sabres’ group that remains in North America.

“Once we settled in, I thought the guys did a great job, especially in the second period. I was really proud of the group and how we played.”

With their NHL roster heading to Europe to participate in the NHL Global Series, the Sabres rostered 15 players who made appearances with the Rochester Americans during the 2023-24 campaign, including all three of tonight's goal scorers.

How it happened

Period 1

Pittsburgh got off to a quick start when forward Marc Johnstone took a shot that hit the post behind Sabres’ goaltender Michael Houser. As the puck was loose in the crease, defenseman Jack St. Ivany, who began the odd-man rush with a drop-pass after he entered the zone, finished off the play to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead.

Buffalo nearly evened the score midway through the frame when Novikov jumped out of the penalty box and dished a pass across the ice to forward Konsta Helenius. The 2024 first-round draft pick (14^th overall) skated in on the right side, and elected to shoot on the two-on-one, but goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic had the answer with a glove save.

With 7:17 to play in the period, defenseman Zach Metsa sent a puck towards the net from the right point which Slaggert redirected past Nedeljkovic to even the score at 1-1.

Shortly after, Novikov retrieved the puck at the Pittsburgh blueline, pushed into the zone and fired a wrist shot over the glove of Nedeljkovic to give the Sabres a 2-1 lead.

Pittsburgh's Joona Koppanen was later awarded a penalty shot after being hauled down on a breakaway. Houser came up big, sprawling to his left to preserve the lead for Buffalo heading to intermission.

“He’s a gamer,” said Leone when asked about Houser’s performance. “He just finds a way. He’s a great guy and he made a couple of big saves to let us keep a lead.”

Period 2

Similar to the first period, Pittsburgh jumped on the board early in the second. Veteran forward Kevin Hayes tapped in a game-tying goal 4:32 into the frame.

Buffalo regained a 3-2 lead with an Anton Wahlberg power play goal. The initial shot, taken by forward Tyler Tullio, was blocked by a Penguins defender in front of the net, which caused the puck to find its way to Wahlberg who was standing in front and tucked the rebound past Nedeljkovic.

“It’s been an awesome couple of weeks,” said Wahlberg when talking about his training camp experience. “It’s amazing. The goal is to wear this jersey full-time. I’m not taking anything for granted. I just want to get better and better. I’ve still got a lot to learn, but this is a great opportunity to get a feel for how it is to play on an NHL rink.”

“I thought he did a really good job of getting to the areas where he needs to be successful,” said Leone. “He had a couple tips in front. It allows him to use his big body and he also played good along the walls.”

With under six minutes to play in the period, Houser came up clutch on the penalty kill. The veteran netminder robbed Rutger McGroarty in the slot which allowed the Sabres to hold onto a one-goal lead going into the final 20 minutes of play.

Period 3

Ratzlaff, who is coming off his third full-season with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL, entered the game in relief of Houser, who stopped 17 of the 19 shots he faced. The 19-year-old went on to make 10 third period saves to seal the Sabres 3-2 victory.

“I think we did a good job defending in our own zone,” said Leone. “We played hard and were competitive. The things we talked about pregame was that regardless of the score we wanted to be a really competitive group. The poise and composure to sacrifice and find a way to get a win was huge.”

POSTGAME COMMENTS

Up next

The Sabres group that remains in North America will return to KeyBank Center for practice on Wednesday before heading back on the road to face the Ottawa Senators Thursday night at Canadian Tire Centre. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. on MSG. Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray will have the radio call on WGR 550.