Game Preview | Buffalo opens Prospects Challenge slate against Montreal

Seth Appert’s message to the team ahead of its first Prospects Challenge game is simple: compete, play fast, and have fun.

The Sabres will kick off their three-game slate when they face off against the Montreal Canadiens at LECOM Harborcenter on Friday.

The round-robin challenge, which includes prospects from the Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils, Ottawa Senators, Pittsburgh Penguins and Canadiens, will feature five of the Sabres’ first-round draft picks in Zach Benson (2023, 13th overall), Matt Savoie (2022, ninth overall), Jiri Kulich (2022, 28th overall), Isak Rosen (2021, 14th overall), and Ryan Johnson (2019, 31st overall).

The Sabres prospects will be playing in front of a soldout crowd after practicing as a group on Wednesday and Thursday.

During Thursday’s practice, Appert stressed a high-compete level as well as moving the puck and thinking as quickly as possible. He even paused a drill to send his message.

“People think of competitiveness as just physical competitiveness, but there’s a lot of ways to show it,” Appert said following morning skate. “We want our guys to show how high their compete is in their own way.”

His hope is that this message will allow the group to showcase their individual talents and play off each other’s strengths over the duration of the tournament.

“We want them to play fast,” he said. “Playing fast is not how fast we skate; it’s how fast we think. Knowing the play you want to make before you get it.

“So, compete, play fast is a big message organizationally, and then have fun. It’s a game. It’s supposed to be fun. We all started in this because we love the sport.”

Here’s everything you need to know before tonight’s game.

How to watch

The game will be streamed live on Sabres.com and the team’s official YouTube channel. Tune in at 7 p.m. for all the action.

Dan Dunleavy, Rob Ray and Kris Baker will be on the call while Brian Duff and Marty Biron will bring you the intermission reports.

Injury update

Defenseman Vsevolod Komarov will miss the entirety of the event with a lower-body injury. Komarov, a fifth-round pick in 2022, signed his entry-level contract in May following a strong season with Quebec of the QMJHL that ended with a run to the Memorial Cup.

Lines to look for

The Sabres skated with the same forward lines Friday morning as they did the previous two days.

Potential lines to watch for include the trios of Zach Benson, Matt Savoie, and Filip Cederqvist as well as Isak Rosen, Jiri Kulich, and Olivier Nadeau.

Benson and Savoie combined for 74 goals, 119 assists and 193 points last season for Winnipeg of the WHL. The two have enjoyed showing off their chemistry at rookie camp.

Find the complete roster here.

On the power play

Buffalo worked power-play drills during morning skate. The units were the same as Thursday’s practice:

49 Filip Cederqvist

93 Matt Savoie – 52 Aleksandr Kisakov – 9 Zach Benson

83 Mats Lindgren

54 Olivier Nadeau

63 Isak Rosen – 79 Viktor Neuchev – 20 Jiri Kulich

73 Zach Metsa

Scouting the Habs

The Canadiens’ lineup showcases two of their first-round draft selections as David Reinbacher and Filip Mesar are expected to hit the ice Friday.

Reinbacher, the fifth-overall pick in this year’s draft, regularly saw 20 minutes of ice time in Switzerland’s top professional league.

The 6-foot-2 defenseman recorded 22 points (3+19) in 46 games last season and was the first defenseman taken off the board in June.

Montreal selected Mesar with the 26th pick in the 2022 Draft. The defenseman tallied 17 goals and 34 assists in 52 games for Kitchener of the OHL in 2022-23.