Preview: Sabres prepare for final preseason test
Sabres, Penguins face off at 4 p.m.
Preseason Game 6
Buffalo Sabres vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Puck Drop: 4:00 PM | PPG Paints Arena | Pittsburgh, PA
TV: MSG (carrying the AT&T Sports feed)
Radio: WGR 550
SB Nation Penguins blog: Pensburgh
What to Watch
1. No Sheary, Ristolainen
Both Conor Sheary and Rasmus Ristolainen are out of the lineup for the Sabres for Saturday’s preseason finale against the Penguins. Sheary is a bit of a surprise; he has a lower-body injury, but appeared likely to play on Saturday. Of course, it could be nothing more than a precautionary move to keep him healthy for the regular season.
2. The final test
This afternoon’s game is the final chance for the Sabres to test things out before the regular season opens. They appear to mostly have their regular-season roster in place, but there are still a few players fighting for a spot. Teams have just a few days before they have to be cap-compliant, and fringe players like Remi Elie, Curtis Lazar, John Gilmour and Tage Thompson have one more chance to showcase to head coach Ralph Krueger and his crew just what they can do.
The Sabres will then prepare for the regular season, which they’ll open against this same Penguins team on Thursday in Pittsburgh, before hosting the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, October 5 at KeyBank Center.
Projected Lineup
Forwards
Jimmy Vesey - Casey Mittelstadt - Vladimir Sobotka
Scott Wilson - Evan Rodrigues - Kyle Okposo
Zemgus Girgensons - Johan Larsson - Curtis Lazar
Remi Elie - Rasmus Asplund - Tage Thompson
Rasmus Dahlin - William Borgen
Marco Scandella - Colin Miller
Casey Nelson - Henri Jokiharju
John Gilmour
Starting Goaltender: Linus Ullmark