Sabres drop preseason opener in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, Pa. (WGR) - The Buffalo Sabres kicked off the 2026 preseason schedule on the wrong end of a 4-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night at PPG Paints Arena.

The Penguins took a 1-0 lead halfway through the first period, and never looked back.

Forward Connor Dewar opened the scoring with a wrist shot through traffic that went through the five-hole of Sabres goalie Alex Lyon. Dewar's first goal of the preseason stood as the only goal of the opening 20 minutes of play.

In the second period, Penguins veteran forward Bryan Rust cashed in on a two-man advantage, as he potted Pittsburgh's second goal of the night with 12:16 gone in the middle stanza.

With about 90 seconds left in the second period, Sabres forward Jake Richard capitalized on a power play chance of his own to halve the Pittsburgh lead.

However, the Penguins were able to sneak one more goal in before the second-period horn. Forward Avery Hayes' buzzer-beater got over the goal line with about two seconds to spare on the clock, making it 3-1, Pittsburgh, heading into the third period.

The only goal scored in the final frame was an empty-netter, courtesy of Penguins winger Elmer Soderblom. He put the game out of reach for good with 1:47 on the clock.

Lyon finished his night with 16 saves on 19 shots faced in 40 minutes of action, while Colten Ellis stopped all eight shots he faced in the final period.

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SCORING RECAP:

First period:

BUF: NONE
PIT: 10:27 - Connor Dewar (1) (Bryan Rust, Andrei Kuzmenko)

Second period:

BUF: 18:32 - Jake Richard (1) PPG (Thomas Borderleau, Zach Metsa)
PIT: 12:16 - Bryan Rust (1) PPG (Hendrix Lapierre, Kris Letang); 19:58 - Avery Hayes (1) (Unassisted)

Third period:

BUF: NONE
PIT: 18:13 - Elmer Soderblom (1) ENG (Bryan Rust, Connor Dewar)

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Bluestar Home Services Three Stars of the Game:

1.) Bryan Rust - PIT
2,) Avery Hayes - PIT
3.) Hendrix Lapierre - PIT

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What's next:

The Sabres return home to host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night at KeyBank Center. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. with Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on the call on the radio home of the Sabres - WGR.