Buffalo Sabres May Pull Goaltender from Rochester Americans
When Buffalo Sabres goaltender Robin Lehner suffered a lower-body injury in the midst of Thursday night’s season-opener, the collective Sabres fanbase likely all took a sharp breath of anxiety.
Lehner’s injury, which appears it could be long-term, has left Chad Johnson as the lone goaltender with the Buffalo Sabres right now.
Of course, the Buffalo Sabres have a quick turnaround, with their next game coming on Saturday afternoon. They need a quick replacement for a back-up goaltender, and one of their options is to pull a goaltender up from the AHL’s Rochester Americans.
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The Amerks open their season Friday night against the Lake Erie Monsters.
As of Thursday, the team was ready to go with the goaltending tandem of Nathan Lieuwen and Andrey Makarov, but that may change, depending on what the Buffalo Sabres end up doing.
The Amerks also have Linus Ullmark in the wings, but he’s still technically on injured reserve with the Buffalo Sabres.
Lieuwen, 24, has seven games of NHL experience, all with the Buffalo Sabres during the 2013-14 season. He won one of those appearances and had an overall save percentage of .906, potting a 2.98 GAA.
Last season, Lieuwen went 4-9-0 with the Rochester Americans, potting a 0.883 save percentage and 3.29 GAA. He missed most of the season with injury, and at times, it appeared questionable that he’d return to the Buffalo Sabres organization. But alas, the Sabres re-signed him over the summer, putting him back in Rochester for the time being.
The 22-year-old made his NHL debut on April 4th against the New York Islanders, stepping in for what would be a 3-0 loss. Makarov stopped 33 of 36 shots faced.
The good news is that either goaltender can be up in Buffalo fairly quickly; that’s one of the perks of having your AHL affiliate close by. And with the Buffalo Sabres playing Saturday afternoon, the team would need to make the call-up on Friday. Though Lieuwen or Makarov would likely be dressed as a back-up on Saturday to Johnson, it’s likely that the call-up could come before the Rochester Americans game on Friday night.
As of 10 a.m., both Lieuwen and Makarov were at the Amerks’ morning skate ahead of Friday’s game.
11 a.m. update: Linus Ullmark joined the Sabres in practice on Friday morning as their second goaltender, but he has NOT been cleared to play.
The Amerks also play at home on Saturday night, so if call-up is made, they’ll need to quickly recall someone from the Elmira Jackals.
The most likely choice seems to be Sam Marotta, who spent most of last season with the Jackals but also made his AHL debut.
So — if you were Buffalo Sabres general manager Tim Murray, would you pull up Lieuwen or Makarov?
Next: Lehner Injured in Season Opener
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