With one group of Sabres coming off of a 3-2 overtime loss vs. the Carolina Hurricanes last night, another group had their equipment packed for a trip to Pegula Ice Arena at Penn State University. The complex is named after Sabres owner, and Penn St. alum, Terry Pegula who made a very generous donation of over $100 million to start up D-1 Men's and Women's hockey programs for the Nittany Lions.
After selling his East Resources for billions, Pegula started his hockey mission with the donation to his alma mater in Fall, 2010. That donation got the ball rolling for Penn State's D-1 hockey programs with the men's team making big strides. Last season they earned a spot in the 2017 NCAA tournament after winning the Big-10 Championsip Tournament. They won their first game 10-3 over Union with the 10 goals being the most scored in the Frozen Four Tourney since 1990.
This is the second of what looks to be an annual preseason game for the Sabres. Last year the Minnesota Wild traveled to Happy Valley and defeated the Sabres on a powerplay goal by Jason Zucker with :05 seconds left in regulation.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are coming off of their second consecutive Stanley Cup and will be headed to Penn State without a number of their stars including Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel. Buffalo on the other hand will have Jack Eichel and Evander Kane playing in their first preseason game of the year. Newly acquired defensemen Nathan Beaulieu and Victor Antipin will be making their Sabres debuts tonight. Also, Jason Pominville will be donning the Blue and Gold for the first time since 2013 when he was traded to Minnesota.
Buffalo's lineup for tonight is set to start like this (via Sabres.com):
9 Evander Kane - 15 Jack Eichel - 29 Jason Pominville
26 Matt Moulson - 22 Johan Larsson - 24 Hudson Fasching
25 Seth Griffith - 10 Jacob Josefson - 13 Nicholas Baptiste
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 12 Kevin Porter - 95 Justin Bailey
82 Nathan Beaulieu - 47 Zach Bogosian
41 Justin Falk - 93 Victor Antipin
4 Josh Gorges - 5 Matt Tennyson
31 Chad Johnson
32 Adam Wilcox
Some notes:
--The 26-22-24 line looks like it could be a complete fourth line this season should coach Phil Housley decide to keep Sam Reinhart at center.
--Jason Pominville riding shotgun with Eichel and Kane looks very interesting. Can he and his 34 yr. old body keep up?
--Matt Tennyson had a couple of goals in the scrimmage yesterday, taking advantage of the open ice afford the players in the four-on-four format
--As mentioned in our Victor Antipin piece, the lefty has the ability to play both side of the rink and he'll be on the right side tonight, which is where he played in the scrimmage yesterday.
--Seth Griffith gets his second preseason game in a row as he had a goal and was a +1 in 12:01 of ice-time last night vs. the Hurricanes.
And today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day.
AAAAARRRGGHH!!!
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