Injuries continue to mount for the Buffalo Sabres and at this point are probably thankful that their season is not starting until next Thursday. On Saturday, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen joined a rather long list of players leave a preseason game early. He joins Olen Zellweger and Mattias Samuelsson, who left early on Tuesday, and Jiri Kulich and fellow goalie Alex Lyon, who left early on Thursday.
After the 3-1 preseason loss to the Penguins, head coach Lindy Ruff said that Luukkonen "tweaked something in the lower body and didn't want to take any chances with it." When asked about an update on Lyon, Ruff said, "the initial news was ok but he is probably going to miss a few days."
Without a definitive timeline on either goalie, it seems like there is a real possibility that Colten Ellis could be the starter for the Sabres when they begin the season against the Columbus Blue Jackets on October 1st.
Buffalo Sabres have carried three goalies since last season for this exact reason
While it is not ideal for teams to have to deal with injuries at a pivotal position this close to the season, this really isn't anything new for the Buffalo Sabres. This time last year, the Sabres were entering the season without Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen after he had an injury coming into training camp and then suffered an injury in his first preseason game.
The Sabres had to go with Alex Lyon and Colten Ellis to begin last season and Lyon in particular played really well for Buffalo. As the season went along, even though they had three goalies on the roster, it never felt like there was much of an extended stretch where all three were healthy until the end of the season.
While there is some time for the Sabres to get clarity on the position, it seems like they need to prepare for Colten Ellis to be the starter. This is a great opportunity for the young goalie who the Sabres claimed off waivers before last season and who had yet to make his NHL debut.
He would make that debut in Buffalo and went 8-4-2 with a goals against average of 2.90 and a save percentage of .903. In the preseason, while he didn't start any games, he appeared in all four games and stopped 41 of 44 shots he faced.
There is no question that this is not ideal, but Ellis is not an unknown like last year. He has shown over a season now that he is more than capable of delivering when needed, and the Sabres shouldn't panic if he starts against the Blue Jackets.
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