Penguins fall to Sabres in preseason home opener
The Pittsburgh Penguins dropped their second game of the preseason, falling to the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2, on Tuesday at PPG Paints Arena.
Penguins defenseman Jack St. Ivany opened the scoring 2 minutes, 57 seconds into regulation with his first goal of the preseason off a rebound.
The Sabres took their first lead of the contest in the first period after forward Graham Slaggert (12:43) and defenseman Nikita Novikov (14:39) each scored their first goals.
Penguins forward Joona Koppanen drew a penalty shot at 16:44 of the opening frame, but his backhander attempt was snuffed out by goaltender Michael Houser, a native of Wexford.
Forward Kevin Hayes’ first goal tied the score 4:32 into the second period, but the Sabres were able to regain a lead 140 seconds later when forward Anton Wahlberg scored his first goal on a power-play sequence.
Penguins defenseman Filip Kral left the contest at 13:47 of the third period with a suspected left leg injury. There was no immediate word on his status.
In his first action of the preseason, Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic was charged with a loss after making 12 saves on 15 shots in 30:11 of ice time. He was replaced at 10:45 of the second period by Joel Blomqvist, who stopped all 11 shots he faced in 27:33 of ice time.
The Penguins’ next game this preseason is a road contest against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.
