Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen struggled early, but he has since become a remarkable goaltender for the Blue and Gold.
If Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s statistics were still hovering around a GAA of 4 or higher, and if his save percentage sat somewhere around 0.860, then I’d have no problem with the Buffalo Sabres reassigning him to the Rochester Americans. But Luukkonen, who is 7-3-1, has had a 0.903 save percentage or better in his last five starts. He has also allowed just 13 goals in that span, good for a GAA of 2.60.
While the Sabres would love to re-insert Eric Comrie back into the lineup, at this point, you need to go with the hot hand. Luukkonen has won his last four contests, and while wins and losses are bad stats to measure goaltender success, Luukkonen played a major role in keeping the Sabres in the Colorado, Vegas, and Boston games.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen needs to stay with the Buffalo Sabres
No ands, ifs, or buts about it – Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen must stay in Buffalo. At least unless he hits a massive cold streak reminiscent of what plagued the 23-year-old when the Sabres recalled him. But at this point, he is looking like one of the league’s better goaltenders.
Not all-world, obviously, but since he has carried the team at times, it would be foolish to send the hot hand back to Rochester. Luukkonen is simply firing on all cylinders at the moment, and some of the saves he made recently are jaw-dropping, including at least a half-dozen in today’s win against Boston.
Case in point, keep Luukkonen in the NHL and let him continue to build on his success. Right now, he is playing like a starting NHL goaltender, and that works well into the Sabres hands.
It will be interesting to see what the Sabres decide to do once Comrie is up to scratch following his reconditioning assignment. But if I were managing this team, I’m not reassigning Luukkonen to anyone at the moment.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)
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