BUFFALO – Fresh off a stellar 24-save outing in Saturday’s 3-1 win, Sabres goalie Eric Comrie will earn another nod tonight against the Montreal Canadiens.
Comrie, 28, hasn’t started back-to-back games since March 25 and 27.
After sitting out the first four games, he looked sharp throughout his season debut, making some critical saves before the Sabres pulled away from the New York Islanders.
“He was real good Saturday and earned … the start based on that,” Sabres coach Don Granato said. “He should be very confident going in with the work he put in.”
With rookie goalie Devon Levi, 21, nursing what Granato called a “nagging” lower-body injury, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will back up Comrie tonight.
Levi did not skate this morning and is expected too miss Tuesday’s road game against the Senators, meaning Luukkonen, 24, will likely receive his first start this season.
“We don’t expect it to be much longer and certainly not long-term,” Granato said of Levi’s injury. “But because it’s nagging, you don’t want to aggravate it. You want him to have enough rest so it heals completely. It’s one of those deals that can linger if you don’t take the time to resolve it.”
In other lineup news, a lower-body injury will force winger Zach Benson to miss his second straight game. Granato said the rookie could be an option for Tuesday’s game.
“He could probably play with it, but it’s close enough that it’s probably going to resolve and we’ll evaluate that again tomorrow,” he said. “We want to make sure we put both those guys, because they’re young guys and they’re taking so much information in, enough time to fully recover when we know that’s going to happen in a short duration. …
“To give them a break every now and then is a benefit to them and now is the time because they’re a little dinged up.”
In other injury news, Granato said winger Jack Quinn, out all season after tearing his Achilles tendon in June, has started skating “lightly.”
“But he’s a long way from being ready for anything,” he said. “And I use that term loosely. Skated is putting a skate on versus skating, there might be a big difference there.”
