Comrie enjoying backup role

On Wednesday night, Buffalo goaltender Eric Comrie was mic’d up during practice. He seemed confident and loose and ready to bounce back after recent struggles in limited action this season.  This year, he has gone 1-6 and a .868 save percentage in 8 appearances on the ice. His last start was against the Florida Panthers on February 15 in which he allowed 3 goals in a 4-0 Sabres loss.

He was recently sent down to the Rochester Americans in early December and was recalled back to Buffalo at the end of January. While with the Amerks, Comrie went 3-1 and had a .934 save percentage while performing in the AHL. 

On February 19th, Eric had another setback due to an illness and missed the game versus Anaheim.  He is back in the lineup and ready to serve as a solid backup to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. In the past 4 weeks before Thursday night, Luukkonen had a save percentage of over .900 in each game. The Sabres went 3-1 in that span. 

Before coming over to the Sabres in the Summer of 2022, Comrie posted a 10-5-1 record with a save percentage of .920 as a member of the Winnipeg Jets.

Comrie understands the role he’s in and is happy for the opportunity with the Americans.  “They kind of just let me go and be myself out there and play the game instead of being stressed and worried about the results and being all uptight, he told the Times Herald two weeks ago.  I’m happy to be back. I understand the role here. Upie’s playing great, he’s playing fantastic. He deserves to play a lot of games", Comrie added.

Currently, the Sabres don’t have back-to-back games until March 2nd and 3rd. That might be the first action that Comrie sees. If he stays loose and confident like he did in practice on Thursday, he may have a solid outing next time around.