Luukkonen saves the Buffalo Sabres to sweep road trip
By Sion Fawkes
The Buffalo Sabres only needed 18 shots on goal to sink the Vegas Golden Knights, but Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was the real story.
Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has been remarkable over his last two games, saving 80 out of 84 shots on goal for a save percentage of 0.952. In tonight’s big win over the Vegas Golden Knights, Luukkonen stopped 41 out of 43 shots, and 21 of 23 in the third period.
It was a game where the Knights outmatched the Sabres late, yet Luukkonen was able to stay composed in the net to bring the Blue and Gold to 16-14-2 (34 points) on the season. The win knots the Sabres up with the Florida Panthers for fourth place in the Atlantic Division.
Buffalo Sabres goaltender coming into his own
Overall, it has been a remarkable stretch for Luukkonen, who saved 39 of 41 (0.951) in a road win against the Colorado Avalanche, effectively kicking off what was a revenge road trip since the Sabres fell to all three teams earlier in the season. If Luukkonen can continue this pace, what do you do when Eric Comrie is healthy enough to return to action?
Scenario #1: Look for the Sabres to send Luukkonen to Rochester while they put Comrie back in the driver’s seat. However, if the longtime backup struggles between the pipes, don’t be surprised if we see Luukkonen back in a Sabres uniform sooner than later.
Scenario #2: There is also a possibility that Luukkonen gets hot enough for Buffalo to say, “you know what, you need to go with the hot hand here.” And following his sensational performance tonight where he pulled off his best impressions of Ryan Miller and Dominik Hasek on multiple occasions, there is no denying Luukkonen is becoming the hot hand.
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Ideally, he keeps up this pace as Comrie nears his return to goaltending duties. Once Comrie is healthy enough, we will see what they decide to do with the surging Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen if he continues to enjoy remarkable performances in the net.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)
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