Goaltender controversies are not fun, but Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen once again showed why he is the Buffalo Sabres top man in the net.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen suffered his first loss with the Buffalo Sabres in quite some time. In fact, he didn’t even save 90% of his shots on goal, but we can thank a breakaway that led to an easy goal for that. Take out that breakaway, and Luukkonen saved 23 of 25 shots, good for a 0.920 save percentage. With the breakaway, he was 23 for 26 (0.884).
Another goal came when Josh Morrissey took advantage of a screen. This forced a blinded Luukkonen to resort to sticking out his glove in hopes to catch a piece of the puck. Ditto for the goal he allowed in the first period.
The Finn also made several highlight reel saves, including one that was a sure tip in during the third period that just caught the piece of his skate. Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck had a similar save late in the third period.
Buffalo Sabres may have their top man in Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Since Luukkonen is so young and under pressure with Eric Comrie returning from injury, it would be easy to understand if he caved to the pressure and floundered. Part of me expected to see the version of UPL that first stepped in for the injured Comrie, but we saw the exact opposite.
Luukkonen, thanks to his contract, is also behind the eight-ball. Playing on a two-way deal, it’s easier for the Buffalo Sabres to reassign him back to Rochester after a bad game or two instead of Comrie, who is on a one-way deal. But if Luukkonen puts up a few more performances like that and Comrie continues to sputter (0.820 save percentage in his first game back), expect to see the former keep his spot in the NHL.
Overall, Luukkonen passed the first test in rising to this new challenge. Here’s to hoping he keeps it up and if he does, the Sabres will have at least serviceable goaltending for the foreseeable future.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)
Article Source: Observations: Sabres shut down by Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck in final minutes of loss by Lance Lysowski
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