Loss to Penguins is a lesson in details for young Sabres

PITTSBURGH - Of the 18 skaters the Buffalo Sabres dressed against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday, six entered the night with less than 10 games of NHL experience. Four of those players have never played a regular-season game at all.
That young lineup was tasked with facing a Penguins team that was icing its regular-season roster, complete with stars like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel and Kris Letang. The Sabres lost 5-1, but it was as good a glimpse as any into the type of pace it takes to be successful in the NHL.
"I thought, overall, our compete level and our effort was there," Sabres coach Phil Housley said. "You're playing a pretty good hockey team, the two-time Stanley Cup champions, and I thought it was just a valuable lesson for our young guys to learn the execution, the speed and the battle that you have to play in."

Alex Nylander scored the lone goal of the game for Buffalo, his first of preseason. Linus Ullmark made 27 saves on 32 shots.
The Sabres managed to weather the Pittsburgh attack until Kessel put the Penguins on the board with a pair of goals late in the first period. Kessel opened the scoring on a breakaway with 2:37 remaining in the period after forcing a turnover at the Buffalo blue line.
Later, with 6.6 seconds on the board, Kessel found himself alone in the right faceoff circle and buried a shot top-shelf.
"We're doing OK in the first period and happened to turn the puck over there," Housley said. "That sort of put us on our heels. But up to that point, I thought we were trying to settle into the period. I thought we were playing really well.
"The details of the game weren't consistent enough, our checking detail. You can't give these guys too many opportunities because they cash in on them."

Pittsburgh added three more goals in the second period - from Letang, Derick Brassard and Matt Cullen - after Nylander scored to put Buffalo on the board.
The goals against, Jason Pominville said, came down to details.
"If you're a younger player you realize how important details are in the game and you have to be consistent with them throughout the game," Pominville said. "I thought for parts of the game we did some good things, but we were really inconsistent with our details.
"I don't think you can fault the effort. We worked hard, everyone battled. But I think our details weren't good enough to play against a team that was obviously really skilled and pretty much had their full roster."
Housley said the Sabres were unable to ice their complete lineup as soon as they'd like due to having back-to-back games on the road. Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart, Jeff Skinner, Kyle Okposo and Rasmus Dahlin all played Tuesday and thus received the day off.
The Sabres' version of a dress rehearsal will likely come Friday, when they play their preseason finale against the New York Islanders. In the meantime, they can chalk this game up as a valuable lesson for the young players in the organization.
"It might've been an eye-opener for some guys," Housley said. "But just the experience alone is going to help them in their development."

Nylander gets on the board

Nylander continued his strong camp with his second-period goal, one of a handful of scoring chances the 20-year-old was able to generate on a line with Pominville and Vladimir Sobotka. He buried a quick feed from Pominville after Marco Scandella intercepted a pass in the offensive zone.
"I thought he did well," Pominville said. "He had some looks, made some plays, got the puck deep when he needed to, got the puck out when he needed to. He never really put himself in trouble and I think as a line we never really were in trouble that much, maybe one shift.
"I thought he did a good job. scored a nice goal, nice release. He's had a good camp. I tried to talk to him as much as I could on the bench. Same for him, if he had questions he would ask so it was a good first game with him, for sure."
Nylander finished the game with three shots in 15:24. He has four points (1+3) in four games this preseason.
"I think I've done really well," he said. "I mean, I'm just trying to get better after every game and improve after every practice and try to take in and learn as much as possible from the coaches and the staff. I feel really good and I've just got to keep going moving forward."

Larsson exits with injury

Johan Larsson sustained a lower-body injury while blocking a shot on his first shift of the second period and did not return. Housley had no further update after the game.

Up next

The Sabres conclude their preseason against the New York Islander in Oshawa, Ont. on Friday night. Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray will call the game live on WGR 550, with highlights and postgame reaction to follow on Sabres.com. The puck drops at 7 p.m.