The Buffalo Sabres play their final road game of the 2024 preseason as they travel to Nationwide Arena for a Saturday evening matchup against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Buffalo’s NHL roster showcased itself Friday afternoon in Munich, Germany, topping EHC Red Bull Munich, 5-0 as part of the NHL Global Series. The night prior, the Sabres group that remained in North America picked up a 3-2 overtime win in Ottawa, courtesy of Noah Östlund, who scored the game-winning-goal Thursday night.

Puck drop tonight is slated for 7 p.m. Here’s what you need to know ahead of the action:

How to watch

TV: Sabres.com (Columbus feed with Blue Jackets commentators)

Listen: WGR 550 (Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray)

Tonight’s roster

Forwards (14): 41 Ty Cheveldayoff, 44 Joshua Dunne, 45 Riley Fiddler-Schultz, 94 Konsta Helenius, 49 Mason Jobst, 52 Aleksandr Kisakov, 57 Brett Murray, 54 Olivier Nadeau, 79 Viktor Neuchev, 36 Noah Ostlund, 63 Isak Rosen, 67 Graham Slaggert, 92 Anton Wahlberg

Defensemen (8): 33 Ryan Johnson 76 Vsevolod Komarov, 46 Noah Laaouan, 73 Zach Metsa, 91 Nikita Novikov, 6 Colton Poolman, 3 Jack Rathbone

Goaltenders (3): 34 Scott Ratzlaff, 32 Felix Sandström

Storylines

1. Among the best

Buffalo has yet to lose in preseason play, making the Sabres one of just five NHL teams (Detroit, New York Rangers, Carolina, Dallas) still unbeaten entering the final days leading up to the start of the regular season.

Additionally, the Sabres have outscored their opponents, 19-8. Add in the win over Red Bull Munich from the Sabres NHL group and it swells to a 24-8 goal differential.

2. Finding ways to win

Rochester Americans head coach Michael Leone has led the Sabres to two wins in two different ways on the week thus far. On Tuesday in Pittsburgh, the Sabres clung to a third period lead and shut down any hopes for the Penguins’ offense. Two nights later, Buffalo found itself down by a goal with under a minute to spare, yet found the equalizer and went on to win the game.

“I loved the way we played,” said Leone when describing the two wins this week. “I think there’s a lot to take from each game. You just have to stick with it sometimes and keep playing. The bench has been great. There’s never a dull moment.”

So far this preseason, the Sabres are finding ways to win games in different ways.

3. Watch for the cannon

Columbus will get the chance to host Buffalo after the team visited the Sabres earlier in the week, where Buffalo controlled the game en route to a 6-1 victory. Since then, the Blue Jackets have put up 11 goals over two games, winning both, including an 8-4 win against Washington last night.

In Columbus’ win against the Capitals, Adam Fantilli recorded a hat trick. The forward was taken third overall by the Blue Jackets in 2023. Fantilli skated in 49 NHL games a season ago, scoring 27 points (12+15) in the process.