The Buffalo Sabres couldn’t sweep their road trip, but goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen played a remarkable game. Maybe his best yet.
Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen looked dejected as he darted into the locker room following the Blue and Gold’s loss against the Minnesota Wild. That showed us all that Luukkonen isn’t satisfied unless he leads his team to a win, and it’s something you look for in a franchise goaltender. But really, could you have asked for a better performance?
Despite his emotions, the kid shouldn’t be too hard on himself. He played a fantastic game and it may have been his best outing yet. No, he didn’t pick up the W, but when you save 33 of 35 shots on goal in 65 minutes for a 0.942 save percentage, you did something right.
And Luukkonen did just about everything right, stopping several would-be goals that he would have allowed two months ago. Once again, the 23-year-old was a human highlight reel, and the outing showed that he’s continuing to grow as a player.
Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen had an outstanding game
While Luukkonen looked great, let’s give some credit to the Sabres defense. In case you didn’t notice, they responded to stopping the Wild from driving the puck up the slot after Minnesota got some decent shots on goal off in the area.
Better yet, they also prevented the Wild from getting to rebounds, clearing the puck out of the danger zone and keeping this game close throughout. Overall, it was a sensational effort from both Luukkonen and the Sabres defense.
And if they keep this up as he dive deeper into the second half of the season, the Sabres faithful should be optimistic about this team’s chances to at least stick around the wild card race for the long haul.
No, losing is never fun. But the Sabres extended their points streak to seven games and they picked up seven out of eight possible points on this long road trip. Not a bad haul for this young hockey team that continues to exceed expectations.
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