3 major takeaways from the Buffalo Sabres loss to Calgary

2 – Devon Levi played better than his numbers

While it’s true Devon Levi had a rough first 10 minutes and looked sluggish, he also came up strong and rescued the Buffalo Sabres more often than he should have cared to. Lance Lysowski of Buffalo News shared the following recap in his postgame piece:

"“He made consecutive point-blank stops on Ruzicka during a power play late in the first period, then kept the score tied 2-2 with a glove save when Lindholm had a breakaway late in the second period.”"

Source: Observations: ‘Frustrating’ loss for Sabres shows need for better team defense

Sure, the 21-year-old’s stats were forgettable, but we need to commend him for coming up big and keeping the Flames from breaking this game open. Had Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen or Eric Comrie been in the net, Calgary probably would have won by multiple goals, and we’d instead be having a conversation about last night’s blowout loss as opposed to a narrow 4-3 defeat.

And yes, I agree: Levi needs to be more consistent. He can’t give up a pair of easy goals so early in the game. But I’ll tell you this: Most 21-year-old goaltenders in their 11th career game would have folded. You know Luukkonen would have folded, so let’s commend Levi for at least keeping this game from getting out of hand – and that consistency will eventually take hold.