3 takeaways for the Buffalo Sabres in their lackluster preseason finale

The Buffalo Sabres wrapped up their preseason schedule on Friday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins. This would be the second time in three nights they were playing the Penguins and were hoping to avenge their 5-3 loss on Wednesday night.

It looked like they might do that with four goals in the second period to take a 4-2 lead into the final period of regulation. However, the Penguins responded in the third period with two goals to send it to overtime before Sidney Crosby scored the game winner less than 10 seconds into the extra period.

As disappointing as the end result was, there is a few positives that can be taken away from this game heading into the regular season.

Tage Thompson and Josh Norris are clicking entering the regular season

Entering training camp, it wasn't clear who would be the center on the top line with Tage Thompson, as it was between Jiri Kulich, who spent some time there last season, or Josh Norris, who played only 3 games after the Sabres traded for him. The coaching staff went with Norris right from the start, and over the last half of the preseason, the two have been clicking.

In the game against Pittsburgh, Thompson opened the scoring for Buffalo with a goal early in the second period.

Over the past three games, there have been five goals that have been scored by either Tage Thompson or Josh Norris, where the other player provided the assist. Once the Sabres get Zach Benson back, which seems he will be ready for the season opener, this top line is going to be dynamic and very productive.

Alex Lyon has won the backup (starting) goalie position

Entering Friday night, the Buffalo Sabres had a pretty good idea that Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen would not be in net for the season opener on Thursday against the New York Rangers. He made his preseason debut on Wednesday, but it lasted only one period after he suffered another lower-body injury, which head coach Lindy Ruff described as 'week-to-week'.

This means the team will have to decide between Alex Lyon and Alexandar Georgiev as their starting goalie to open the regular season. Lyon played the first two periods of the game against the Penguins on Friday night and allowed two goals on 13 shots. However, one of those goals was questionable, and as Philip Tomasino took out Lyon in the crease as the puck was going in.

Georgiev would play the third period and overtime for the Sabres and allowed three goals on 17 shots. There was a lot of ugly in the third period for the Sabres, and while all three goals can't be blamed entirely on Georgiev, it was clear that Lyon was the better goalie on Friday night and has cemented himself as the backup to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, but also the starter for the regular season opener.

3rd period raises a lot of concerns for the Sabres

Wins and losses ultimately don't matter in the preseason but there are certain aspects of a game that can be pointed to as reasons for concerns. One of those was the lackluster performance in the third period against the Penguins.

After playing two really good periods defensively, the Sabres almost completely fell apart and couldn't keep up with the Penguins' forwards. This certainly was not the best blueline the Sabres could put together as four of their expected Top 6 (Rasmus Dahlin, Michael Kesselring, Owen Power, and Mattias Samuelsson) did not play in this game.

The Sabres also made a lot of mistakes that helped the Penguins get back into it with two penalties in the third period, one for too many players on the ice and Tage Thompson being called for holding. For the second straight game, the Sabres' special teams struggled as they allowed Pittsburgh to score on both power plays in the period.

With a little less than a week until the regular season, the biggest focus for the Buffalo Sabres is to get healthy and hopefully get a number of their players back for the opener against the New York Rangers on Thursday night.