Game Preview | Dahlin, Mittelstadt to debut at home against Penguins

Rasmus Dahlin and Casey Mittelstadt will be among the players making their preseason debuts when the Buffalo Sabres host Pittsburgh Penguins tonight at KeyBank Center.
Tickets are available here.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. Fans in the Buffalo broadcast market can stream the game live on Sabres.com.
Here are five things to know going in.

1. The lineup

Eight players will make their preseason debuts: Forwards Mittelstadt, Jeff Skinner, Victor Olofsson, Drake Caggiula and Kyle Okposo; defensemen Dahlin, Henri Jokiharju, and Jimmy Schuldt; and goaltender Craig Anderson.
Sabres coach Granato said he expects Anderson to play two periods before giving way to Dustin Tokarski.
Here's the full projected lineup based on the morning skate:
53 Jeff Skinner - 37 Casey Mittelstadt - 71 Victor Olofsson
96 Anders Bjork - 28 Zemgus Girgensons - 29 Vinnie Hinostroza
91 Drake Caggiula - 49 Ryan MacInnis - 21 Kyle Okposo
73 Matej Pekar - 43 Sean Malone - 72 Tage Thompson
26 Rasmus Dahlin - 10 Henri Jokiharju
8 Robert Hagg - 33 Colin Miller
44 Jimmy Schuldt - 13 Mark Pysyk
40 Craig Anderson
31 Dustin Tokarski

2. On the power play

Here's a look at the units that skated this morning.
Unit 1
Thompson
Mittelstadt - Skinner - Olofsson
Dahlin
Unit 2
Girgensons
Miller - Hinostroza - Okposo
Jokiharju

3. Class reunion

Anders Bjork and Vinnie Hinostroza have skated as linemates through the early part of training camp with Zemgus Girgensons as their center. Bjork and Hinostroza were linemates previously at the University of Notre Dame in 2014-15.
The two exchanged texts after Hinostroza signed a one-year deal to join the Sabres in July.
"I've enjoyed playing with him in the past and a little bit at camp here as well," Bjork said. "I was really pumped up when he signed, for sure. He's a great player and he's a lot more to show than he has so far, I believe. He has tremendous skill and compete level so he's a great addition to this team."

4. Something to prove

Bjork and Hinostroza have more than their alma mater in common. Both have prior experience playing for Granato. Bjork was with the Sabres coach at the U.S. National Team Development Program; Hinostroza was with the Blackhawks while Granato was an assistant.
Both players also come to Buffalo believing they have untapped offensive potential. Granato grouped them with Drake Caggiula - another player he had in Chicago - as young veterans hungry for more, the sort of players the Sabres sought to add during the offseason.
"They're coming here with a lot of experience and they're hungry," Granato said. "… Those guys don't feel they've established themselves yet in the NHL, but they have this tremendous experience. So, that kind of fits our theme. With where we're at as a franchise, we have to take those guys and hopefully they help us forge an identity for ourselves."
Bjork, 25, was acquired by the Sabres in the trade that sent Taylor Hall to Boston in April. He skated an average of 17:02 during 15 games with the Sabres - up more than four minutes from his career average with Boston - and tallied three goals and three assists.
"I have that ability," Bjork said. "Yet to prove it, but that's something I'm really striving for and this year that's a huge focus of mine. I think the way I get there is by playing the right way, playing simple, playing a good defensive game, earning the coach's trust and my teammates' trust as well. And then hopefully my offensive ability can show once that trust is built."

Hinostroza is on his fourth organization in seven NHL seasons. He signed with Florida prior to last season and went without a point in just nine games before an April trade sent him back to Chicago, where his career began. He went on to tally 12 points (4+8) in 17 games with the Blackhawks.
He believes that final stretch was evidence that he has another level offensively.
"I know I do," he said. "I think throughout my career I've seen spurts of it, good year here, good year there, a little bit of an off year. I think as you develop as a pro, it's just finding that consistency and that's something that I think I've been able to develop over the last year and a half and through the summer."

5. Playing relentlessly

One common word used by Sabres players to describe Granato's preferred style of play: relentless. Granato expanded on what that means to him, pointing to Rasmus Asplund's performance against Detroit on Thursday night as an example.
"Puck pressure," he said. "I thought Asplund had a great game last night from the simple standpoint every puck battle mattered to him. He wanted to win every puck battle and make the right play, and he anticipated when it was coming into his area of responsibility, and he was on it.
"Those are really evaluators that we put in front of the player and say, 'You need to learn how to self-evaluate, are you engaging in the situations? This is your area of responsibility. The puck just came into your area, how are you responding?' So that's what we're looking at really in its essence, that's going to be our foundation."