Who was the last Buffalo Sabres goaltender to record back-to-back shutouts?
By Sion Fawkes
Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen recorded his second shutout in as many games this week, and his third overall in 2023-24. Luukkonen, who shut out the Colorado Avalanche in October 2023, also made quick work of the San Jose Sharks and the Chicago Blackhawks, and is the first goaltender in Buffalo to record back-to-back shutouts in quite some time.
In the modern game, such a feat isn’t the easiest to snag, so even if the Sabres weren’t a good hockey team for nearly the past decade-and-a-half, even the best defensive teams don’t always see this happen. But it hasn’t been eons since the Blue and Gold last had a goaltender shut out an opponent in back-to-back games, and you probably wouldn’t believe who snagged the achievement.
The last Buffalo Sabres goaltender to record two shutouts in a row was…
You need to go back to October 2019 for the last time a Sabres goaltender recorded this, and it was none other than Carter Hutton. Yep, the same Carter Hutton who, 34 at the time, recorded just a 3.18 GAA and a save percentage of 0.898, but his pair of shutouts indeed came in two straight contests.
However, unlike Luukkonen, Hutton’s shutouts did not come in consecutive contests, as he shutout the Dallas Stars on October 14th before Linus Ullmark started the first half of a back-to-back two days later in a losing effort to the Anaheim Ducks. Hutton started the second half of the back-to-back on October 17th against the Los Angeles Kings, which the Buffalo Sabres won in a 3-0 effort.
For the last Sabres goaltender to record shutouts in consecutive games, you need to go back to January 23rd and January 25th of 2018 when Robin Lehner was in the net. On the 23rd, the Sabres beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-0, before they turned around and defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-0. Lehner saved 63 shots on goal in the two games combined, and it was just two of 50 starts and 53 games the then-26-year-old made that season.
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(Statistics and information provided by Hockey-Reference)