Buffalo Sabres at Pittsburgh Penguins

By JR·2 min read

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PIT

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7:00 PM ET

TLDR: The scoreboard won't count for much Monday, but the jobs on the line will — Buffalo and Pittsburgh kick off the preseason with both rosters still very much up for grabs.

MON SEP 21, 7:00 PM

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Buffalo and Pittsburgh open the preseason Monday at PPG Paints Arena, the first of four meetings between the clubs before the regular season, with both rosters still being sorted out in training camp. Buffalo is without Jason Zucker into the year and managing Louis Crevier's return from shoulder surgery, while Pittsburgh is monitoring an undisclosed injury to Melvin Fernström and sorting out a thin right-shot defense corps. Crosby, Malkin and Letang's spots are locked in for Pittsburgh; everything else on both benches is a genuine competition.

Sabres

Returned to playoffs last spring, won a stacked Atlantic
Deep enough up front that roster spots are genuinely contested
Jason Zucker out into the regular season, sports hernia surgery
Crevier still working back from shoulder surgery

Penguins

Crosby, Malkin, Letang locks give a stable veteran core
69 camp invites, real competition at forward
Right-shot-heavy blue line looks thin beyond the top pairing
Fernström injured entering camp, status unclear

Monday's tilt at PPG Paints Arena is the first of four preseason meetings between these two clubs before the regular season opens, and neither coaching staff is treating it as a formality. Pittsburgh's Dan Muse has been blunt about it: "Nothing's going to be set in stone in terms of the open competition," with a deep group of forwards fighting for a handful of spots. Buffalo brings a similar edge, with GM Jarmo Kekäläinen setting the tone at camp: "pretty good's not good enough" after last year's return to the playoffs.

The names that aren't in question are still the ones driving interest. Sidney Crosby opens his 22nd season in Pittsburgh, with Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang running it back as a trio for a 21st straight year — their spots are safe while everyone else in camp is fighting for a roster line. Buffalo, meanwhile, is trying to prove last season's Atlantic Division run was a floor, not a peak, and Monday is the first look at how the pieces fit.

Both clubs also walk in banged up. Buffalo will be without Jason Zucker into the regular season after sports hernia surgery, with defenseman Louis Crevier still working back from a shoulder procedure — Kekäläinen has said he expects Crevier ready for opening night, but neither is expected to play a meaningful preseason role. Pittsburgh has its own question mark in Melvin Fernström, sidelined with an injury that surfaced at the tail end of last season's AHL slate.

Pittsburgh's bigger issue isn't an injury at all — it's a right-shot-heavy blue line with more questions than sure things beyond the top pairing, which is exactly the kind of thing a September opener against a real opponent starts to expose. Buffalo's forward group, by contrast, is deep enough that newcomers like Filip Hallander have had to fight just to get reps in front of the coaching staff.

Neither team's spring form tells you much about Monday's lineup, but it's the closest thing either side has to game tape. Buffalo closed last spring 2-3 in a five-game set against Montreal, while Pittsburgh went 2-3 down the stretch against Philadelphia — both clubs looking to build something different heading into this camp.

With a full training camp roster of 69 invitees in Pittsburgh and plenty of NHL hopefuls dressing for both sides, don't expect either bench to look much like an opening-night lineup. What's worth watching is who separates himself — a Hallander, a Kuzmenko, a name off Buffalo's deep forward group — before the real games start counting on September 30.

Buffalo Sabres at Pittsburgh Penguins

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