Penguins Drop Preseason Opener to Sabres

The Pittsburgh Penguins headed to Buffalo on Saturday for their preseason opener hoping to best the Sabres and secure a win.

Unfortunately, Buffalo’s NHL-heavy roster was a bit too much for a young Pittsburgh lineup to handle.

JJ Peterka recorded a hat trick for the Sabres en route to a 7-3 win, while all of Pittsburgh’s tallies came off the stick of forward Jesse Puljujarvi. Owen Power, Henri Jokiharju, Sam Lafferty, and Dylan Cozens also scored for Buffalo.

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The Penguins, fielding a mostly prospect-focused lineup, were simply outmatched by a Buffalo team dressing most of its NHL regulars. The final result isn’t much to write home about given the circumstances.

That said, there were still a few positives and negatives to pull from this game. Some postgame observations:

– Puljujarvi was really the story tonight. Two days after I wrote that a roster spot wasn’t looking like it was bound to happen for him, he decided to put up two goals in the Team 1 v. Team 3 scrimmage on Friday and a hat trick on Saturday.

It’d be one thing if that’s all he did tonight, even if impressive on its own. But he was also engaged physically, stood up for Vasily Ponomarev after Ponomarev was the victim of a borderline hit, and forechecked pretty well in the Penguins’ few offensive opportunities throughout the game.

He needed a game like this. The first few days of camp for Puljujarvi were a mixed bag, and he proved himself worthy of NHL roster consideration tonight. An impressive showing from him.

– Overall, Rutger McGroarty’s performance was mostly positive. It’s a bit difficult to get a read on players in these kinds of games where everything is very lopsided, but he turned in some good forechecking work, played well along the boards, and even made a few nice stick plays in the defensive zone.

There were some miscues as well, but overall, a good night from him.

Related: Penguins Training Camp: Notes from Day 3

– Another guy who looked pretty impressive in this game was 2024 second-round pick Harrison Brunicke, who showed some flashes on the blue line for the Penguins. His skating was smooth, he made some nice plays, and his stickhandling was excellent.

The sample size between the preseason and the Prospects Challenge is small, but there is a lot to like about Brunicke so far. He’s certainly a defensive prospect Penguins’ fans should be excited about.

– Someone who didn’t have the best night was Ryan Graves. Unfortunately, this is something many folks have become too used to hearing, but he was, generally, a mess positionally in the defensive zone and was on the ice for several goals against.

It’s early in the preseason, and there is still time for Graves to show something more. The coaching staff has been generally happy with his progress, so hopefully, that translates into game action.

– Ponomarev took a high hit along the boards by Nicolas Aube-Kubel, and he was slow to get up. He did get to the bench on his own accord and return later.

Related: Penguins Training Camp: Notes from Day 2

Something that was refreshing to see from the Penguins was the response. After the hit, Penguins’ players retaliated on several shifts. Defenseman Mac Hollowell got involved. Graves got involved. Puljujarvi and Tristan Broz got involved.

It was nice to see some of that nastiness from the Penguins, especially in response to a teammate getting the worst of a hit.

– After an impressive showing in the first period, Joel Blomqvist had a rough second period. There were a few goals from the point that he would probably want back, and he was pulled in favor of Filip Larsson midway through the second after allowing six goals on 26 shots.

Larsson played pretty well for the remainder of the game, allowing just one goal to Dylan Cozens.

– Despite going down 6-1, the Penguins showed some fight at the end of this game. They didn’t go out quietly, scoring two more goals and staying engaged throughout.

The Penguins will face Buffalo again on Tuesday at PPG Paints Arena. It will probably be somewhat of a reverse in comparison to tonight, as the Penguins are likely to dress more NHL players and the Sabres are likely to dress some prospects on the road.

We’ll see if they can return the favor on Tuesday.

Related: Penguins Training Camp: Notes from Day 1