BUFFALO – After missing the first week of training camp with a lower-body injury, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen began practicing and ramping up to begin the season as the Sabres’ No. 1 goalie.
On Wednesday, the Sabres planned for Luukkonen to play the opening 40 minutes in his first preseason action.
The Finn lasted one period before he re-aggravated his injury and was replaced by Alexandar Georgiev for precautionary reasons.
“(He) felt good coming into the game, and then after he made a couple of saves, just didn’t feel quite right,” coach Lindy Ruff said following the Sabres’ 5-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins’ junior varsity squad in KeyBank Center.
Ruff said the Sabres will see how Luukkonen feels today.
In his limited action, he looked sharp, stopping 11 of the 12 shots he faced.
“I thought he looked good, but we don’t want to take a chance with anything,” Ruff said.
The Sabres were concerned enough when Luukkonen, 26, tweaked his injury before camp they signed Georgiev, 29, to a one-year contract on Sept. 11.
If Luukkonen misses time, the Sabres will likely utilize Georgiev and veteran Alex Lyon, 32, in net. They also have goalie prospect Devon Levi in the minors.
Meanwhile, the Sabres also lost defenseman Michael Kesselring, who aggravated an undisclosed injury he has been battling throughout camp.
“He’s day to day, nothing serious,” Ruff said.
Kesselring, 25, joins defensemen Owen Power (strain) and Mattias Samuelsson (upper body) on the sideline. Defenseman Bowen Byram skated with his teammates Wednesday morning after missing two days with an upper-body injury.
Ruff believes the defense corps will be healthy when the Sabres open the season in one week.
“I feel Byram’s ready to come back in (for Friday’s preseason finale), whether we play him or not,” he said. “Power’s really close to coming back in – he’s got a rehab skate. We don’t know where Kesselring will be at, but I feel pretty confident that we’re going to probably have them all back.”
Center Josh Norris scored twice before captain Rasmus Dahlin tallied a late power-play goal to get the Sabres within 4-3 before an announced crowd of 11,591 fans.
Georgiev stopped 10 of the 13 shots he faced.
The Sabres, who are 3-2-0, play Friday in Pittsburgh.
