How will the Buffalo Sabres goaltender situation play out?
By Sion Fawkes
All eyes are on the Buffalo Sabres goaltenders as Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has risen to be the top man on the roster this season.
The Buffalo Sabres never saw this one coming. Heading into the season, the plan was simple:
- Give the incoming Eric Comrie between 45-50 starts.
- Leave between 20 and 25 for Craig Anderson.
- Leave the remaining starts for Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, ideally later in the season.
Then Comrie came in and flopped. During this flop, he sustained a lower body injury and missed over a month. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stepped in struggled, then got his act together, creating a goaltender controversy that, well, keeps getting more controversial.
Luukkonen may have allowed nine goals over his previous two games, but one of those games came against the high-octane Washington Capitals. Another game saw the Sabres play poor defense against the Minnesota Wild, so even those contests where UPL faced 76 shots on goal, he still played well.
What will the Buffalo Sabres goaltending situation ultimately look like?
On Tuesday night, Comrie returned and picked up right where he left off, saving 0.818 of all shots on goal in what was the second-worst performance of his time in Buffalo. Right now, this is Luukkonen’s job to lose, as a few more subpar performances from Comrie would certainly put him further behind the eight-ball in this battle.
So where does Craig Anderson fit? With Luukkonen and Comrie in their early and mid twenties, respectively, the 41-year-old Craig Anderson would rotate in whenever the aforementioned pair both saw ample playing time.
But if the Sabres can remain on the outside and looking in for a wild card spot in the playoffs and Comrie continues to struggle, they will have no choice but to play Anderson. Despite his age, Anderson has been dangerous in the net on multiple occasions, and he would give the Sabres a much better chance to win than Comrie.
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My projection is that you will see Luukkonen get the bulk of the playing time here, assuming he still plays at a high level. Comrie will get his chances, but a few more poor performances will put him into an obscure role while Anderson fills in when Luukkonen needs a break AND they are facing teams capable of scoring often.
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