Sabres will dress mostly an NHL lineup in their first preseason match on home ice.
9/22/26 - 7:00 pm at Key Bank Center, in Buffalo, NY
Buffalo – 0-1-0 | - 0 points – 8th place in the Atlantic Division
Columbus – 1-1-0 | - 0 points – 4th place in the Metropolitan Division
Starting Goalies
Buffalo – Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen / Colten Ellis
Columbus – Cam Talbot / Evan Gardner
Other Sabres Stories
Sabres Line Combinations and Pairings
Forwards
Peyton Krebs - Tage Thompson - Josh Doan
Zach Benson - Noah Ostlund - Jack Quinn
Ryan McLeod - Josh Norris - Konsta Helenius
Jiri Kulich - Sam Carrick - Beck Malenstyn
Defense
Mattias Samuelsson - Rasmus Dahlin
Olen Zellweger - Owen Power
Conor Timmins - Louis Crevier
Goaltenders
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Colten Ellis
Columbus Lineup
Notes
Courtesy of Sabres.com
Tonight will offer a first look at Buffalo’s two offseason additions on defense, Olen Zellweger and Louis Crevier.
Zellweger has opened training camp on a pair with Owen Power, occupying the spot vacated by Bowen Byram’s departure. Zellweger’s shared characteristics with Byram – speed and offensive instincts – have already shown through a few days of practice and in Saturday’s Blue and Gold Scrimmage, but he’ll still have to earn the job full-time.
Crevier, meanwhile, has been a full participant through the early days of camp after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery. The 6-foot-8 defenseman has been skating on a pair with Conor Timmins.
The new collective bargaining agreement dictates that veterans of 100 of more career NHL games can play a maximum of two preseason contests.
One player unaffected by that rule: Jiri Kulich, who is the lone skater from Monday’s game set to play again on Tuesday. At age 22, Kulich has 75 career games on his resume.
The Sabres are capitalizing on the opportunity to give Kulich as much runway as possible after he missed most of last season due to a blood clot. He led Sabres forwards with 19:39 of ice time during Monday’s game and had six shot attempts. Coach Lindy Ruff said he'll "in all likelihood" dress Kulich for all four exhibitions.
The forward line of Zach Benson, Noah Ostlund and Jack Quinn – all of whom are candidates for breakout seasons in 2026-27 – was Buffalo’s best in Saturday’s Blue and Gold Scrimmage. Ostlund and Quinn scored goals while Benson was his usual, tenacious self.
Assuming the line stays together, tonight will be a chance to see how it fares against outside competition – and a possible preview of a look we’ll see during the regular season.
Follow Michael on X, Instagram @MikeInBuffalo
THN.com/Free