The Buffalo Sabres traveled to Pittsburgh for their third game of the preseason, which saw them fall to the Penguins 3-1.

The Sabres offense wasn’t too great in the contest, recording 25 shots and just one goal on the night.

The Sabres defense looked significantly better than the group that played against the Maple Leafs Wednesday night but still gave up 30 shots and three goals in the loss.

The game started very slow, with little action in the first period. The Sabres led the shots 7-6, as both teams remained scoreless through one.

Halfway through the second period, Penguins forward Rickard Rakell would break the ice, putting Pittsburgh ahead 1-0. However, the lead would be short-lived as Tage Thompson of the Buffalo Sabres would score in the final minute of the period to tie the game at one.

At the end of two, the Penguins led the shots 17-14 as the game was tied at one.

Entering the third period, the Penguins started applying pressure to the Sabres, and this pressure would pay off in the form of a Drew O’Connor goal just before the halfway point of the period to take the lead 2-1.

Despite applying their pressure, the Sabers couldn’t answer the O’Connor goal and began to panic.

The Sabres would end up pulling their goaltender in search of one last offensive push. Although they gave up an empty net goal to Drew O’Connor for his second of the game. This would end up being the dagger as the Sabres couldn’t respond and would fall to the Penguins 3-1.

Takeaways

The Sabres made significant improvements in this game after an upsetting loss to the Maple Leafs on Wednesday night but couldn’t add a tally to the win column.

The defense played well, and goaltender Eric Comrie had an impressive game, recording 27 saves on 29 shots.

Overall, the Sabres fall to 1-2 in the 2023 preseason as they look to snap their two-game losing streak on Saturday at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets.