Sabres Preseason Report: Oct. 1, 2025

Breanna McNeill
Oct 2
2 min read

Photo Credit: Buffalo Sabres Multimedia Photo Galleries

Buffalo Sabres vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

Final: 5 (PIT) - 3 (BUF)

The Buffalo Sabres dropped their second preseason contest, falling 5–3 to the Pittsburgh Penguins at KeyBank Center.

Tristan Broz opened the scoring late in the first period on a Penguins power play. Josh Norris quickly responded for Buffalo, drawing a tripping penalty and then finishing the sequence by slipping a backhander through Arturs Silovs’ five-hole to tie the game at one.

In the second frame, Pittsburgh pulled ahead with goals from Matt Dumba and Avery Hayes, giving them a two-goal cushion heading into the third.

Norris struck again early in the final period, finding himself alone in front to tap home his second of the night and cut the deficit to one. Ville Koivunen restored the Penguins’ two-goal lead shortly after, but Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin answered with a dazzling end-to-end rush, finishing with a wrist shot on the power play to bring Buffalo back within one. But, that was as close as the Sabres would get, as Filip Hållander sealed the win for Pittsburgh with an empty-netter in the closing minutes.

Notably, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen started the game for Buffalo, stopping 11 of 12 shots in the opening period, but did not return after the first intermission. Alexandar Georgiev than took over between the pipes, turning aside 10 shots in relief.

Three Stars:

#1. Josh Norris (BUF) – 2G

#2. Matt Dumba (PIT) – 1G, 1A

#3. Rasmus Dahlin (BUF) – 1G

Sabres Roster:

Forwards: Josh Norris, Justin Danforth, Jason Zucker, Peyton Krebs, Jiri Kulich, Jack Quinn, Beck Malenstyn, Mason Geertsen, Ryan McLeod, Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch, Josh Doan

Defenseman: Michael Kesselring, Conor Timmins, Rasmus Dahlin, Ryan Johnson, Radim Mrtka, Jacob Bryson

Goaltenders: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Alexandar Georgiev

The Buffalo Sabres will close out their preseason schedule on Friday, Oct. 3, when they face the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 p.m.

Notable Updates:

Owen Power (D): “Strained something” and is considered day-to-day.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (G): Left yesterday’s game after the first period and did not return.
Michael Kesselring (D): Also exited yesterday’s game and did not return.
Bowen Byram (D): Did not dress but has resumed skating on his own.
Jordan Greenway (F): Progressing; hopes to resume practicing next week.
Mattias Samuelsson (D): Re-aggravated previous injury; status could be week-to-week.
First regular-season game is exactly one week away (Oct. 9 vs. NYR)

Transactions (as of Oct. 2):

Placed on waivers: Jack Rathbone (D), Jake Leschyshyn (F), Zac Jones (D)
Released: Trevor Kuntar (F), Graham Slaggert (F), Brendan Warren (F), Noah Laaouan (D), Peter Tischke (D)
Sent to Rochester (AHL): Konsta Helenius (F), Riley Fiddler-Schultz (F), Anton Wahlberg (F), Isak Rosen (F), Olivier Nadeau (F), Zachary Metsa (D), Isaac Belliveau (F), Nikita Novikov (D), Viktor Neuchev (F), Scott Ratzlaff (G), Devon Levi (G), Jack Rathbone (D)