5 things we learned from Sabres vs. Penguins

Tage Thompson scored the lone goal for the Sabres during a 2-1 preseason loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at KeyBank Center on Friday.
Goaltender Craig Anderson made his debut in a Sabres sweater and stopped 18 of 20 shots faced during two periods of action. He was replaced by Dustin Tokarski, who made six saves.
Dominik Simon and Michael Chaput scored goals for the Penguins.
Here are five takeaways from the preseason game No. 3.

1. Mittelstadt leads third-period push

The Sabres controlled play over the final 20 minutes, during which they played to an 11-5 edge in shot attempts. Much of it had to do with a mid-game tweak to the forward lines.
Granato bumped Vinnie Hinostroza alongside Casey Mittelstadt and Jeff Skinner. Victor Olofsson replaced Hinostroza on a line with Zemgus Girgensons and Anders Bjork.
Shot attempts were 17-2 in favor of the Sabres when the trio of Hinostroza, Mittelstadt, and Skinner shared the ice at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick. Though they failed to earn the tying goal, they played to an 8-0 edge in scoring chances.
"That was great to see," Granato said.

2. Thompson plays down low

Thompson manned the net front on a power-play unit with Mittelstadt, Skinner, Olofsson, and Rasmus Dahlin. His goal came at the edge of the crease, where he caught a pass from Mittelstadt and sent a shot in off the leg of a defender.
The 6-foot-7 forward said he intends to spend more time in that area this season.
"Just get to the net, I think that's where you're gonna get a lot of your goals," Thompson said. "I think using my size to hold people off and get to the net, just being around the paint there, I think that's where you're gonna get a lot of goals. That's going to be a big focus this year for me."

3. Dahlin on the PK

Dahlin and defense partner Henri Jokiharju were the second pair over the boards on both of Buffalo's penalty kills. Granato said he plans to utilize the pair during shorthanded situations moving forward.
"The penalty kill, we've talked about that a lot because they're intelligent players," Granato said.
The move is a development for Dahlin, who has scarcely played the penalty kill during his first three NHL seasons. The 21-year-old said after singing a three-year contract last week that he wants to be an all-situations player for the Sabres moving forward.
"I want to be a guy you can trust every single second I'm at the rink," he said.

4. Pekar drops the gloves

Matej Pekar has never shied away from confrontation. A fourth-round pick in 2018, Pekar showed up to his first summer development camp and antagonized blue-chip prospects like Dahlin and Mittelstadt. He carried that edge into his pro career, which began last season with Rochester.
Pekar wasted little time before leaving his mark on Friday. He fought Pittsburgh's Jordy Bellerive during his second shift of the night, taking the brunt of the hits but never backing down.
"That's Matej," Granato said. "Everybody back there had a laugh. He is relentless, fearless. He's getting pounded in a fight in a pro position and he's trying to get up to keep swinging. That's an inspiring, motivating guy and we love it. His teammates love it.
"He's gotten better since a year ago because he competes so hard. He's going to continue to progress. He's a determined hockey player so that was nice to get him in a game and give him that experience. He didn't let us down. He competed very hard."

5. Halftime

Just like that, the preseason is halfway over. The Sabres practice Saturday and have a day off Sunday, then play back-to-back preseason games at home against Columbus and at Pittsburgh. The preseason schedule concludes in Detroit next Saturday.
In the meantime, Granato said roster cuts will take place prior to Saturday's practice. The Sabres had 55 players on the training camp roster as of Friday night.
"The roster going into the final three games will be much smaller, so it will be a clearer picture for everybody," he said.