Mike Harrington: With dress rehearsals over and curtain about to go up, what have we learned about Sabres?
The Sabres have been better in second periods and still have plenty of offense but injuries and special teams remain areas of concern.
Let's start first with a big disclaimer: The Sabres' preseason is over and that's a good thing. And it's never going to be this long again, which is a really good thing.
The NHL's new collective bargaining agreement that fully goes into effect next season has cut the preseason to four games while extending the regular season from 82 to 84. It's cut the number of days in training camp and has the start of the season now pushed back to the last week of September.
Trust me when I say these players are ready to start the season right now and don't want to be waiting until Thursday. They've been ready. It's been years since guys showed up at training camp to get in shape.
Buffalo Sabres center Josh Norris (9) scores on Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Arturs Silovs (37) in the first period Wednesday in KeyBank Center.
Norris assisted on a Tage Thompson goal Friday in PPG Paints Arena. Joed Viera/Buffalo News
We've learned a few things about the Sabres in these last couple of weeks, but we all have to wait until the New York Rangers hit town Thursday before we start to see how much things are going to translate when the pucks start flying for real.
The Sabres finished the preseason 3-2-1 after Friday night's 5-4 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. The nuts and bolts are that they gave up a pair of two-goal leads and lost as Sidney Crosby scored the tying goal on a power play with 6:06 left in regulation and won it nine seconds into OT off a sublime Erik Karlsson pass.
Let's not get caught up in the details. There are no standings to keep track of. Big picture only.
The Sabres have been better in second periods, a real bugaboo last year, and still have plenty of offense. Injuries and special teams remain areas of concern.
They played very well for 45 minutes Friday and essentially ran the Penguins out of their own building with a four-goal middle period (scoring chances were 14-5 at 5 on 5 and they had 81.4% of the expected goals). The third period was not nearly as good other than Alexandar Georgiev stopping 14 of 16 shots in net (the whistle should have blown on Rickard Rakell's dig-out that got the Pens within 4-3).
Second periods killed this team last season. The Sabres have made shorter shifts and cleaner changes an emphasis in this preseason and you've seen the results in that area.
You had to love Tage Thompson's one-timer from in front off a ridiculous pass from Josh Norris, who has been Buffalo's best forward so far. Both for the play and what preceded it, a grinding attack from every line.
"That was really good, huh? I thought we were really good, all four lines rolling over," said Alex Tuch. "The (Thompson) goal, that was four lines right in a row. 'Bam, bam, bam, bam.' Everyone got a couple chances, everyone had O-zone time. I honestly don't know if (the Penguins) had a full change. It was incredible and that's the way we have to play ... We're going to torment teams."
Veteran Jason Zucker agreed, pointing out how it felt like the Penguins were ground down in that stretch.
"I think that's a recipe we've got to try to lean on a little bit more," Zucker said.
What else emerged from Friday?
Josh Norris' breakout: The team's No. 1 center had seven points in the preseason and ended the night tied for the NHL scoring lead with Washington's Hendrix Lapierre.
"Phenomenal. Playing really, really well," Zucker said. "He's skating well. It seems like he's had a heck of a summer and has been a catalyst for us."
Added coach Lindy Ruff: "He's got himself in great shape. He's skating really well and has been able to get in on the offense. He's the guy we've been counting on to be that really good two-way player."
Changeup on the bench: Assistant Seth Appert was in the middle of the bench running things and calling out lines. Ruff stayed to one end, taking a preseason night to talk to guys live as they came off the ice.
"I wanted to communicate and concentrate on talking to players," said Ruff. "(Jack) Quinn and (Josh) Doan came off one time on a power play and we had 10 seconds of passing the puck back and forth. We didn't attack once and it's the understanding your mental clock has to go off. ... 'Let's get on the attack. Throw it in the paint just the way they did.' That interaction I really enjoyed."
What's ahead: The Sabres return to practice Monday after spending the weekend at a closely guarded location for a retreat for players and management at Ruff's urging.
"We're looking at what I would call cultural change and training," Ruff said. "Talking to our whole group from management on down."
Zucker said practice Monday should be quite a bit different. Tuch noted it will be time for the Sabres to focus on the "here and now."
"That's going to be key for us, not looking too far ahead," Tuch said. "Not listening to what you guys write in the paper (for the record, he was smiling while cracking on your friendly columnist). Really just focusing on what's going on in our room, what we can control and just going game by game.
"That's what successful teams do. Chunk it down to small segments. Try to win your segment and then you move on."
Things get real now: The Sabres open with 10 of their first 14 games at home but that's far too big a picture. Don't even think about next Saturday in Boston. It's all about Thursday.
"Game One. Can't get any more real than that," Tuch said.
"It's a big difference and we're looking forward to it," Zucker said. "We've had a good camp, a good set of preseason games here. Now the fun part starts."