Pittsburgh, PA (WGR 550) - With the NHL roster en route to Europe, the Buffalo Sabres' prospects of tomorrow took down the Pittsburgh Penguins inside PPG Paints Arena by a final score of 3-2.
The Penguins struck first, just three-minutes into the opening period. Defenseman Jack St. Ivany's wrist shot beat goalie Michael Houser for the 1-0 Pittsburgh advantage.
The blue and gold responded with consecutive goals later in the period. First, it was center Graham Slaggert re-directing a puck past Alex Nedeljkovic. Then, just over two-minutes later, defenseman Nikita Novikov wired a shot from just below the blue line past the glove of Nedeljkovic to make it 2-1 Sabres.
Pittsburgh tied the score in the early goings of the second period. Veteran forward Kevin Hayes crashed home a rebound in front of Houser to make it a 2-2 contest.
The game would not stay tied long. Two minutes later on an ensuing Sabres powerplay, Anton Wahlberg netted the third goal of the night for the blue and gold.
Wahlberg's goal proved to be the eventual game-winning tally, as it was a war of attrition in the third period of play. The Sabres staved off the Penguins, and held on to its 3-2 advantage to move to 3-0-0 in the 2024-25 preseason.
GAME RECAP
First Period:
BUF: 12:43 - Graham Slaggert (1) (Zach Metsa, Brendan Warren); 14:39 - Nikita Novikov (1) (Josh Dunne, Tyler Tullio)
PIT: 2:57 - Jack St. Ivany (1) (Marc Johnstone)
Second Period:
BUF: 6:42 - Anton Wahlberg (1) PPG (Tyler Tullio)
PIT: 4:32 - Kevin Hayes (1) (Cody Glass, Ryan Shea)
Third Period:
BUF: NONE
PIT: NONE
