Preseason hockey is officially underway, and it wasn’t the result Sabres fans wanted. Pittsburgh beat Buffalo 4 to 1 in the opener, with Bryan Rust the story of the night for the Penguins — a goal and two assists. Connor Dewar and Avery Hayes also found the net for Pittsburgh, and Elmer Soderblom sealed it with an empty-netter. In goal, rookie Sergei Murashov stopped all 13 shots he faced before giving way to Joel Blomqvist.
For Buffalo, the lone goal came from Jake Richard on the power play late in the second. Goaltending was a mixed bag — Alex Lyon made 16 saves in the loss, though Colten Ellis was sharp in relief, stopping all eight shots he saw in the third period.
And a quick note on the bench — Lindy Ruff wasn’t behind it tonight. He was in Nashville for the memorial service of former Sabres center Brent Peterson, so assistant coach Seth Appert ran the team in his place.
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