Crosby strikes in preseason finale as Penguins down Sabres; Hurricanes rout Predators 6-0

Sidney Crosby scored his first goal of the preseason as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-1 at KeyBank Arena. Ville Koivunen and Nicholas Robertson added the other Penguins goals, while Arturs Silovs made 23 saves. Ryan McLeod scored for the Sabres; goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 15 saves before leaving in the third period and was replaced by Colten Ellis, who stopped six shots. Pittsburgh finished the preseason 2-2-0, Buffalo 1-3-0.

As the NHL reports, Crosby scored at 9:00 of the first period with a slap shot from the left circle, while Koivunen doubled the lead at 10:56 with a backhand in the crease. McLeod cut the deficit with a power-play goal at 11:30 of the second, and Robertson sealed it with an empty-netter with 1:05 left. The game marked the end of the preseason for both teams; Pittsburgh opens the regular season against the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday, while Buffalo plays the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.

The Carolina Hurricanes cruised 6-0 over the Nashville Predators in their preseason finale at Bridgestone Arena. Jackson Blake scored a goal and added two assists, while Nikolaj Ehlers added a goal and an assist. Brandon Bussi made 22 saves for Carolina, while Juuse Saros stopped 20 for Nashville. The goals came in this order: Blake on the power play at 5:02, Jordan Martinook at 7:04 off an Ehlers assist, Ehlers at 13:29, Logan Stankoven at 16:37 of the second period, Mark Jankowski with a one-timer on the power play at 9:21 of the third, and Andrei Svechnikov made it 6-0 with 55 seconds left after his shot was deflected by defenseman Adam Wilsby. Carolina finished the preseason 3-1-0, Nashville 1-3-0; Carolina opens the season against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday and Nashville hosts the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.

According to the NHL, the games marked the close of the preseason and offered a read on the teams’ form ahead of the regular season.