To satisfy their long-suffering fan base, the Buffalo Sabres need to build on their pretty terrific 2025-26 season, in which they won the Atlantic Division, beat the Boston Bruins in the first round of their Stanley Cup playoff series before falling to the Montreal Canadiens in the second round.
Here at TheHockeyNews.com , we're analyzing the Sabres' Eastern Conference foes in a series called "Know Your Enemy". As part of this annual web series, we're focusing on how Buffalo fared against each East team, and how they'll probably fare against the 15 other Eastern teams in the East this season. In this file, we're turning the spotlight on the Pittsburgh Penguins .
The Penguins are still built around their aging core, and for good reason – Sidney Crosby , Evgeni Malkin , and Erik Karlsson are all still delivering the goods. But they're all much closer to the end of their careers than they are to the beginning of it. And the Penguins are desperate to get back into the playoffs and not waste another year of Crosby and Malkin's career.
If healthy, the Pens have the high-end skill to be back in the playoff picture -- but they probably won't stay high in the Metropolitan Division standings and will instead be battling for a wild card berth.
With that said, here's this columnist's perspective on how the Penguins shape up as a Sabres opponent this season:
NEW PENGUINS PLAYERS: Andrei Kuzmenko (RW), Nick Robertson (LW), Hendrix Lapierre (LW), Trevor van Riemsdyk (D), David Gustafsson (LW), Kaedan Korczak (D)
2025-26 SERIES:Sabres 1-2-0, Penguins 2-1-0
2026-27 GAMES AGAINST EACH OTHER:November 27 at Buffalo; December 22 at Pittsburgh; March 2 at Buffalo
CAN THE SABRES BEAT THIS TEAM?Every time you look at the Penguins, you cannot escape looking at their core talents' advanced age, and wonder how much gas Pens icons Crosby, Malkin, Karlsson and Kris Letang have left in their competitive tank. Crosby is now 39 years old. Malkin 40. Letang is 39, and Letang is the youngest of the group at…36 years old,
This Pens team is trying to soak every last drop of juice they can get out of their players — and given that they finished second in the Metropolitan Division last year, the Penguins got above-average performances from their core.
All this is to say the Sabres have to stomp the Penguins into the ground, because there's going to be an air of urgency for Pittsburgh GM Kyle Dubas to use whatever cap space he has left – and he does have $10.9-million to spend. So help is coming for Pittsburgh, and that help will make it harder for Buffalo to deal with.
The Sabres take on the Penguins twice in a three-week period starting in late-November. That should juice up the bad feelings the two teams have for one another. But after that, Buffalo and Pittsburgh won't play again for about three months – more than enough time for them to make significant acquisitions that could hurt or help their bottom line.
Will the Sabres take care of business against the Penguins? We believe they will. Pittsburgh's core talent is defying their age, but the Sabres are deeper than the Pens, their goaltending is better than the Pens' goaltending, and they should be taking advantage of Pittsburgh core's advanced age.
It's always going to be tough when you have not just one, and not just two – but four players en route to the Hockey Hall of Fame who are on your opponent's roster. And you're going to have to operate at your level best if you want to beat them. That's where Buffalo is with Pittsburgh, and that's why it's crucial the Sabres put a foot down on them and earn the full six standings points.
Seeing the Penguins now mean you you're looking at surefire Hall-of-Famers near the end of their incredible careers. Thus, if the Penguins are coming to your town, you need to see them while you can. And if you're a Sabres fan, you know Buffalo could be fighting the Penguins tooth-and-nail for a wild-card playoff berth.
Ultimately, the Sabres underwhelmed against Pittsburgh last year. And they need to turn around those results and get beyond the Pens in the NHL's regular-season standings. A playoff spot is not assured for the Penguins, and if the Pens are winning with Crosby, Malkin, Letang and Karlsson, the Sabres need to figure out ways to turn the tables on them and lock up a playoff spot.
