* The Pens looked very impressive in the game. All four lines dominated play and dictated the terms of engagement. Pittsburgh connected on a bulk of its scoring chances and could have finished the night with 10 goals. It was all Pens.
* However, the Sabres played the previous evening in the Kraft Hockeyville USA contest held in Clinton, N.Y. Being the host city, Buffalo dressed the bulk of its top talent. Thus, against the Pens they dressed the "B Squad." Jack Eichel, Kyle Okposo, Sam Reinhart, Jeff Skinner, Zach Bogosian, Rasmus Dahlin and Rasmus Ristolainen did not play.
So while it was certainly an impressive showing by the Pens, don't read too much into it. On the bright side, the Pens didn't just sleepwalk through the game to a victory. They competed hard, and it showed.
* The player that most impacted the game was winger Phil Kessel, who scored the opening two goals in the game. Kessel's first goal came off of a semi-breakaway down the near side. After stealing the puck from Taylor Fedun, Kessel raised up ice and planted his shot into the top corner.
Kessel's second goal was so nasty that it required a video review. After the entire Sabres team backed away, Kessel easily slipped uncontested into the slot. He snapped the puck into the back top of the net so hard that the puck bounced back out as quickly as it went in. The officials reviewed to determine that the puck had gone it. It had.
* While all the lines were excellent in the game, the trio of Dominik Simon, Derick Brassard and Bryan Rust stood out the most. They were a dominant force on every shift and caused havoc for the Sabres. They were really reading off of each other well and created a lot of plays.
* Brassard is playing in only his second preseason game after missing the start of training camp and intra-squad scrimmages. Brassard was very strong on the puck and his skating was fluid. He drew a slashing penalty in the second period and then finished it off with the subsequent power-play goal.
* Carl Hagelin had a lot of jump. He was the first to admit his line with Kessel and Evgeni Malkin didn't look great in their previous outing. This time around they looked like a formidable threesome.
* Juuso Riikola had another strong outing. He's making this a tough decision on the coaching staff. With each game he's built his case to be in Pittsburgh, and he just may find a way to crack into the top six.
* Though he wasn't challenged often, goaltender Matt Murray looked sharp between the pipes. He tracked pucks well, anticipated the play and made the saves when called upon.
