Luukkonen exits and Grzelcyk makes debut as Sabres drop final preseason contest to Penguins 

The Buffalo Sabres wrapped up the 2026 preseason on Saturday, falling by a 3-1 score to the Pittsburgh Penguins at KeyBank Center. 

Adding to a mounting list of recent injuries, goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen exited the game at the 3:47 mark of the third period and did not return to the bench for the remainder of the game. Coach Lindy Ruff noted it was a lower-body issue for Luukkonen. 

“He tweaked something and we just got him off,” Ruff said. “Didn’t want to take any chances.”  

Ruff did not provide a timeline for Luukkonen, whose injury comes after Alex Lyon left Thursday’s game at Detroit with an upper-body injury. 

“He’s going to miss a few days, for sure,” Ruff added of Lyon’s status.

That leaves one rostered goaltender for the Sabres: Colten Ellis, who played in all four preseason games as a result of the Lyon and Luukkonen exits. Ellis posted an 8-4-2 record and a save percentage of .903% in 2025-26, and with Lyon’s and Luukkonen’s statuses for opening night next Thursday in Columbus are up in the air, the second-year netminder could be called upon for a big role right off the bat. 

“It’s what you work for,” Ellis said. “That’s why you play the game. So, just focusing on what I can control right now and my game, and see what happens and just be ready for it.”

Ellis stopped all six shots he saw in relief of Luukkonen on Saturday, adding to already-strong preseason numbers – the 25-year-old played 95:48 across four games, stopping 41 of 44 shots for a .932% save percentage. 

Ellis agreed that it was an unorthodox preseason for him considering his impromptu appearances in games but followed that up with: “At the same time, you’ve got to be ready to go at all times. That’s just the business we’re in.” 

“He’s always been ready,” Ruff said of Ellis. “Anytime we put him in, he’s always been ready. He won us hockey games, we did well for us last year. And I’m sure if he has to step in, he’ll play well for us again.” 

Remember, Ellis beat the Maple Leafs in relief of Luukkonen in January. And when on April 9 he made his first start in two months, he had a 37-save shutout of the Blue Jackets. 

The injury bug has not been kind for the Sabres this preseason – in addition to Luukkonen and Lyon, other departures from the four exhibition matches included defensemen Mattias Samuelsson (lower body) and Olen Zellweger (concussion protocol), on top of forward Jason Zucker having missed all of camp due to a sports hernia. 

Of where his team stands at the conclusion of the preseason, and with opening night just five days away, Ruff had a clear message: “We’re going to deal with a little bit of adversity.” 

Here’s more from the preseason finale.

Grzelcyk’s weekend whirlwind

Three days ago, Matt Grzelcyk was skating at Boston University, trying to keep up his conditioning as he waited for an NHL general manager to ring his phone. 

Now, he’s played a preseason game with his new club. 

“When (the Sabres) called, I was super excited,” Grzelcyk said after logging 21 shifts and 16:48 of ice time. “The way that they have turned things around here, just from the outside looking in, (it) looks like such a fun group and a group that works hard and is, obviously, super hard to play against. Just pure excitement to see the phone ring and just happy to be here.”

A 10-year NHL veteran, Gryzelcyk spent the first eight of those seasons with the Atlantic Division foe Boston Bruins. The 33-year-old then played in Pittsburgh in 2024-25 and spent last year in Chicago, a season Gryzelcyk faced a similar situation as this year – signing with the group midway through training camp. 

“It’s always tough – you never want to miss camp,” Grzelcyk said. “Certainly wasn't my decision by any means, I would rather have it figured out. … And I think there were a lot of unknowns with how short camp was this year, so just happy it's all over.” 

Grzelcyk played to the left of Conor Timmins for the majority of Saturday’s contest, though Ruff shuffled the defensive pairings in the third period as Buffalo looked to get on the scoresheet after falling behind 2-0. 

“It’s hard to evaluate (after one game), but when I talked to (Grzelcyk) last night, he was excited to get going,” Ruff said. “He was excited about getting in and playing.”

Line juggling 

After the Sabres were held scoreless for the first two periods on Saturday, Ruff opted to do some juggling of his top nine skaters. One of those moves included bumping Zach Benson and Noah Ostlund up to a line centered by Tage Thompson, moving Ostlund from center to right wing. 

Josh Norris stayed at center but had two new wingers for the third period: Jack Quinn and Josh Doan. Ryan McLeod – who has been playing on the wing for most of camp – shifted to center and played between Konsta Helenius and Josh Doan. 

Per Natural Stat Trick, the Doan-Norris-Quinn line was one of the most productive in the offensive zone, generating six scoring chances. Aside from the fourth line that stayed intact for the whole game, the Benson-Thompson-Ostlund line had the highest TOI (8:04). 

Owen Power and Rasmus Dahlin also took some shifts together in the third period, perhaps to get some extra offensive pressure with Buffalo in search of a goal. But that’s a combination Ruff cited midweek as one he’d be comfortable with come the regular season, especially considering the current injuries on the back end. 

“We could have a pair of Power and Dahlin. They’ve played together in the past,” Ruff said on Wednesday. “That could eat up a lot of minutes and be a real good pair.”

Up next 

The Sabres begin preparing for their season opener on the road against Columbus at 7 p.m. next Thursday, Oct 1. MSG's pregame show begins at 6:30.