Sabres will dress mostly players bound for the American Hockey League against Atlantic Division rival
9/24/26 - 7:00 pm at Little Caesars Arena, in Detroit, MI
Buffalo – 1-1-0 | - 0 points – 7th place in the Atlantic Division
Detroit – 1-0-1 | - 0 points – 5th place in the Atlantic Division
Starting Goalies
Buffalo – Alex Lyon / Colten Ellis
Detroit – Daniil Tarasov / Carter Gylander
Other Sabres Stories
Sabres Line Combinations and Pairings
Forwards
Jiri Kulich - Noah Ostlund - Konsta Helenius
Trevor Kuntar - Matthew Peca - Jake Richard
Aidan McDonough - Tyson Kozak - Justin Danforth
Liam Valente - Thomas Bordeleau - Jason Polin
Defense
Gavin McCarthy - Zach Metsa
Dennis Gilbert - Vsevolod Komarov
Ryan Johnson - Radim Mrtka
Goaltenders
Alex Lyon
Colten Ellis
Detroit Lineup
Notes
Courtesy of Sabres.com
The Sabres sustained two injuries to their defense corps during Tuesday’s preseason game, with Mattias Samuelsson now week to week with a lower-body injury and Olen Zellweger in concussion protocol.
With those absences comes an opportunity for some of the defensemen in tonight’s lineup to solidify a potential spot in the opening night lineup. Zach Metsa and Dennis Gilbert would figure to be the two frontrunners for the job, having both spent camp practicing with the NHL group. Metsa excelled in his role as Buffalo’s seventh defenseman last season and led the team in ice time during Monday’s preseason game.
Radim Mrtka and Ryan Johnson are two more names to watch. The two defensemen opened camp with the AHL practice group but joined the NHL squad on Wednesday with Samuelsson and Zellweger absent. Johnson has 47 NHL games on his resume; Mrtka is entering his first pro season after being drafted ninth overall in 2025.
The Sabres have had 14 forwards in their NHL practice group throughout camp. Assuming they stick with three goalies to begin the regular season, they’ll likely only be able to carry 13 forwards on their 23-man roster for opening night.
Tyson Kozak and Justin Danforth – both in tonight’s lineup – have been the extra forwards at camp thus far. Kozak performed well in a fourth-line role with Buffalo last season; Danforth is healthy after missing most of 2025-26 with a broken kneecap.
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.
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