Observations from Sabres’ Blue & Gold Scrimmage

Buffalo got its first look at the 2026-27 Sabres with Saturday’s Blue & Gold Scrimmage, which split up the NHL roster plus a handful of AHL players for some intrasquad game action.

Team Gold beat Team Blue, 3-1. Noah Ostlund, Mattias Samuelsson and Jack Quinn scored for Gold, Beck Malenstyn for Blue. Tage Thompson, Josh Norris, Josh Doan and Rasmus Dahlin added goals in a postgame shootout.

“We love you guys,” Dahlin told the lively KeyBank Center crowd postgame. “You guys are nuts.”

The new collective bargaining agreement shortened the preseason schedule to four games, and players with 100-plus games of NHL experience are limited to two. And the Sabres must dress eight or more of those 100-game veterans in each game. Here’s where the healthy NHL guys stand:

100+ games (limited to 2 preseason games): Benson, Carrick, Crevier, Dahlin, Danforth, Doan, Gilbert, Krebs, Luukkonen, Lyon, Malenstyn, McLeod, Norris, Power, Quinn, Samuelsson, Thompson, Timmins, Zellweger

Fewer than 100 (no limit): Ellis, Helenius, Kozak, Kulich, Metsa, Ostlund

Most of the team falls into that first category, so Saturday’s scrimmage offered some much-needed game reps. While the NHL group was divided, lines and pairs from the first camp practices stayed together.

• Camp notebook | Lines, Crevier gets acclimated, Luukkonen discusses trade rumors

“There’s veterans that wanted to play more games, guys that have said, ‘I’d like to play three games,’” coach Lindy Ruff said. “And the answer is, you just can’t. … Put this scrimmage in and get them extra… really what we can simulate as good as close to game situations as you would face in a preseason game.”

The preseason opens Monday in Pittsburgh. Before that, here are some notes and observations from Saturday’s scrimmage.

Zellweger’s debut, lingering defensive decisions

Olen Zellweger has already gotten a good taste of Buffalo – especially after he and the Sabres attended Thursday night’s Bill game christening Highmark Stadium – but fans got to see Buffalo’s newest blueliner in (close to) game action for the first time on Saturday. 

Playing to the left of Owen Power, Zellweger had nothing but good things to say about his debut – both the Buffalo fans and his d-partner. 

“It was fun,” Zellweger said. “… We're both pretty good with the puck, pretty smart. (Power)’s a great skater, great in all three zones. So, he makes it easy. He's obviously really good on the off-side, but yeah, it was fun having the scrimmage together.”

“I think you're looking at a guy that's trying to get used to how we play or want to play and how we close, and I thought he closed in a lot of plays,” Ruff said of Zellweger’s play on Saturday.

Power and Zellweger – both offensive-minded defensemen – had bursts on Saturday where they joined the rush as Blue looked to cut into Gold’s lead, though sometimes deferred to “too much of a fancy play,” Ruff felt. Zellweger pulled off a spin move with the puck in the offensive zone at one point. And while Zellweger showcases a lot of the same attributes that Power’s partner last year, Bowen Byram, had, Ruff said he’s weighing the options for that left side on the second pair. 

“It’s really who's going to play with Owen Power, and you can argue for one or two different guys that can step in there,” Ruff said, also mentioning Louis Crevier and Conor Timmins. “We’ve got options, so we’ve got lots of decisions to make.”

Kulich returns on 4th line

When Sam Carrick arrived via trade in March, he found instant chemistry with his fellow fourth liner Malenstyn and had six points (5+1) in 13 games before injury. Those two haven’t missed a beat; in Saturday’s first period, a forechecking Carrick stole the puck from Timmins in the corner and fed Malenstyn in the slot for a one-time goal past Alex Lyon.

Based on the last three days, Carrick and Malenstyn might start the season with a new left winger in Jiri Kulich, who had his first quasi-game action since Nov. 1, 2025. Kulich’s highlight of the afternoon saw him corral a stretch pass up the right side and rip a good rush shot, which Lyon stopped.

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Kulich has played as high as the first line (with good results) in his young career, but he’s not concerned with his role for now. Besides, he has the defensive skillset to fit on a fourth line, and his offensive upside could nicely complement Carrick’s and Malenstyn’s grinding styles.

“I haven’t been on the ice with the team for a year,” Kulich said, “so I’m just happy that I can be out there. I honestly don’t even care if I’m fourth line or first line right now. Just want to be out there and just want to have fun.”

Benson-Ostlund-Quinn line stands out

For a combination of players that spent just 7:13 on the ice together 5-on-5 for the entire 2025-26 season, per Natural Stat Trick, the Zach Benson-Ostlund-Quinn line looked promising. 

“They were probably the best line on the ice,” Ruff said. 

In the first period, Quinn fed Ostlund – slotting in at center – a nifty feed to the slot that the Swede converted to get the scoring started. Quinn – celebrating his 25th birthday on Saturday – added a goal in the third period, electing to shoot on a 2-on-1 rush with Benson to his right. 

Perhaps riding the high of his second point and birthday goal, Quinn got another pair of Grade A chances in the third period, twice finding himself all alone with the puck in front of Colten Ellis, though both times his dekes were denied by the netminder. 

“I think you're looking at three incredibly skilled players with a mixture of speed, and Ostlund sees the ice so well, so I thought we got exactly what we thought we were going to get: a lot of opportunities,” Ruff said. 

Benson was also his typical self on Saturday afternoon, forechecking and backchecking hard and even laying a hit on Peyton Krebs. His high compete and edge fit well with his linemates' playmaking and skill, creating a combination Buffalo fans might want to keep their eyes on come preseason.

Goalies get in

Each of the Sabres’ three projected goalies – Lyon, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Ellis – played two 15-minute periods in the scrimmage. None faced a ton of great chances; Lyon allowed no goals, Luukkonen one, Ellis three.

The rare in-game trade sent Ellis from Gold to Blue at the second intermission. He made a couple great stops in the third on those Quinn chances.

Scrimmage photos

Up next

The four-game preseason begins Monday night in Pittsburgh. Stay tuned to Sabres.com for broadcast and streaming info for each of the week's exhibitions.