Musings: Penguins 5, Sabres 3 (Preseason Game 6)

Before Pittsburgh’s sixth game of the preseason on Wednesday in Buffalo, Penguins Head Coach Dan Muse said the younger players were making roster decisions difficult.

“That’s what you want,” Muse said. “You want to get to this week and feel like you have some very hard decisions to make. And I think that's where we're at. I think that's a credit to both the young players, and I think it's everybody. I think guys have been pushing, guys have made it very difficult. And so, I hope that continues here over the next couple of days.”

It did tonight against the Sabres, as three of the kids got on the board. Tristan Broz, Avery Hayes and Ville Koivunen, all 22, helped the Penguins earn a 5-3 win. The 11^th overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, Ben Kindel, got the primary assist on the goal scored by Matt Dumba. Filip Hallander rounded out the scoring with an empty-netter.

Arturs Silovs played the whole game and made 27 saves, including two excellent shorthanded stops on Tage Thompson, one of the NHL’s most dangerous goal scorers. The Penguins spent most of the night with five defensemen after Jack St. Ivany blocked a shot in the first period and did not return to game action. Muse said St. Ivany is still being evaluated. This is the lineup Pittsburgh drew up:

Ville Koivunen - Ben Kindel - Avery Hayes

Filip Hallander - Blake Lizotte - Phil Tomasino

Rafael Harvey-Pinard - Tristan Broz - Noel Acciari

Danton Heinen - Joona Koppanen - Robby Fabbri

Ryan Graves - Ryan Shea

Jack St. Ivany - Harrison Brunicke

Owen Pickering - Matt Dumba

*After the Penguins signed Avery Hayes to his first NHL contract, director of minor league operations and WBS assistant GM Amanda Kessel mentioned his knack for scoring.

Hayes has done a good job of finding the net dating back to the Prospects Challenge, where he led the Penguins with four goals in three games. Kyle Dubas mentioned Hayes as one of the players who asserted themselves, and would have a better opportunity at training camp because of it.

Hayes even got the chance to play on Sidney Crosby’s left wing in Saturday’s farewell to Marc-Andre Fleury.

“It was amazing, yeah. I mean, I got to learn so much just from one game and the couple practices before,” Hayes said. “So, I was super proud of myself how it went, and yeah, an amazing feeling.”

Hayes collected a nice primary assist on Crosby’s first of two goals, which Muse mentioned when talking about what he has seen from the forward over these last three weeks.

“Going back there to just the rookie tournament, he was finding a ton of different ways to impact the game there, when the team really needed momentum swings... scoring big goals, big plays,” Muse said. “As the games continue on, they continue to elevate deeper into camp. So, I still think he's been able to find different ways.”

His teammates couldn’t be happier to see Hayes doing well, as he is very popular in the locker room.

“He’s awesome. I love him so much,” Broz said. “He’s the best hype man, guy to talk about really anything with. Just a genuine person. More than anything, he really wants you to succeed, just as much as he wants himself to succeed.”

*In addition to his goal, Filip Hallander set up Avery Hayes for a two-point night. He was originally drafted by Pittsburgh in the second round of the 2018 NHL Draft and spent two seasons with the organization from 2021-23, splitting his time between Pittsburgh (appearing in three NHL games) and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Hallander then returned to Sweden for a while, as the timing of his move to North America wasn’t ideal for his family.

“It was just tough with covid,” Hallander said. “Just having a tough time off the ice with my family, just finding some stability. We had our second child right after we went back. So, just getting home (to) be around family, friends again. I think that worked out good, those two years back home, and now we all feel very excited to be back.”

Hallander is coming off of an excellent season with Timra IK of the Swedish Hockey League. The 24-year-old established career highs in goals (26), assists (27) and points (53) and was plus-16. Hallander’s 26 goals and 53 points both ranked second in the entire SHL.

“I think that I kind of grew as the first season went on, and then just took that with me until last season,” he said. “Had a good coach in Olli Jokinen that really believed in me. Played big minutes, a lot of leadership on me, a lot of pressure, but it was a good time to grow both on and off the ice as a person. So, it was nothing really more than confidence, I would say.”

As for his mindset here at training camp?

"I think it's been very competitive so far," he said the other day. "It's been high intensity. It's been very fun, very hard. And I think everybody feels the same. It's a lot of guys feel they have a good chance to take a spot, and you want it to be that way."

*Tristan Broz now has two power-play goals after also scoring on the man-advantage in the preseason opener against Montreal. But the 2021 second-round pick has said what he wants to demonstrate more than anything is maturity.

"That's the number one thing for making it in Pittsburgh out of camp, is being able to defend those top-six guys and playing responsible games," Broz said.

When asked how he would evaluate that part of Broz's play, Muse said it has gotten better.

"He's been out there in a lot of different situations, and game to game, it's kind of changed a little bit," Muse said. "That has been a little bit by design. I think there's been some games where he's (gotten) more D zone starts. There's been some games where it's maybe a little bit more on the penalty kill time. But I think it's been good. I think he's been in the right spots, and the detail's been pretty solid."

Overall, Broz feels like he has played well and done his job to this point in training camp.

"We'll just see what happens tomorrow and Friday. But yeah, I feel good how I've played," Broz said.