This was the final exhibition game in North America for most, if not all, players in the Sabres' lineup. It was an opportunity for Ruff to evaluate his roster against an opponent that had several NHLers and see determine how much progress they've made since they began to implement his system six days earlier.

Buffalo scored on its first three shots of the second period, four of its first five and five of its first seven. The Penguins had to give goaltending prospect Joel Blomquist a mercy pull with 14:34 left in the second period and the Sabres in a 6-1 lead.