Pittsburgh Penguins, Buffalo Sabres To Play Preseason Game At Pegula Ice Arena
Penn State is set to play host to an NHL preseason contest for the third time in four years on September 16.
The Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres will square off at Pegula Ice Arena for the second time following a preseason meeting between the teams in 2017. Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m., and Penn State athletics will release ticket information at a later date.
Terry Pegula, the man whose $88 million donation funded the return of Division I hockey to Penn State, owns the Buffalo Sabres, who will play at Pegula Ice Arena for the third time. The team’s first appearance in Hockey Valley was against the Minnesota Wild in 2016.
Penn State men’s hockey teased a big announcement on Monday by showing off a countdown clock that ends on September 16, which is 25 days before the team opens its regular season against Sacred Heart.
Pegula Ice Arena is one of the newer facilities in college hockey, and its NHL guests have been thoroughly impressed by all its bells and whistles during their brief visits.
“It’s a great facility,” former Penguins forward Carl Hagelin, who spent his college hockey career at Michigan, said following Pittsburgh’s last appearance at Penn State. “I wish I was able to play here [as an opponent] while I was in college.”
“I thought it was a great experience,” Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan added. “This is a really neat environment here. Penn State’s got a beautiful facility. The fans are on top of you, so I think it’s a unique environment from that standpoint. It has that college feel, which I think was great for our players. There was a lot of energy in the building.”
Although it doesn’t really matter all that much in the NHL standings, Buffalo is 1-1 in its two Pegula Ice Arena appearances. The Sabres fell to the Wild 2-1 in 2016 before coming away with a 4-3 overtime victory over the Penguins one year later. Some hockey fans at Penn State may not be all that invested in the Penguins, Sabres, or Wild, but both preseason contests showcased the raucous atmosphere Pegula Ice Arena has become notorious for since opening in 2013.
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