BUFFALO – In the early going of Tuesday’s 4-2 loss to the Boston Bruins, Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen picked up where he left off in the series opener, stopping two breakaways to keep the game tied at 0.
For months, Luukkonen has stood tall in net, making him the easy choice to start the first-round series against the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
But the Finn’s struggles in Game 2 – he allowed a goal from center ice and later got pulled – helped sink the Sabres as the Bruins tied the best-of-seven series 1-1.
To be fair, as a goalie, Luukkonen’s mistakes are front and center. Plenty of blame can go around for Tuesday’s loss, a game in which the Sabres trailed 4-0 in the third period.
Just like Sunday’s thrilling 4-3 win, the Sabres couldn’t score against the stingy Bruins until late in the third period. Some of their best players looked invisible.
Their power play struggled again, going scoreless in five tries. Over their last nine outings, it’s zero of 31.
But Luukkonen, who was replaced by Alex Lyon after Viktor Arvidsson scored his second of the night 16 seconds into the third period, will bear the brunt of the criticism.
Arvidsson opened the scoring 4:54 into the second period by sliding a backhander between Luukkonen’s legs from the left circle, a shot he usually stops.
Then at 16:29, Morgan Geekie backhanded the puck high into the Buffalo zone from about a foot before the center red line. When it landed a few feet in front the crease, it bounced by Luukkonen, who had come out to stop it.
“Just a bad bounce and a goal,” Luukkonen said. “… That’s my fault. There’s no way around it; you’ve just got to do better with those. But I feel like the biggest thing for me, personally, is that in those situations, if there’s a bad bounce, bad goal, you have to stop the bleeding.
“But wasn’t able to do that tonight. And I feel like we still had a good fight back in the third.”
The next time Luukkonen touched the puck, he heard a brief but loud Bronx cheer from the crowd.
“This team has been so good about we win together, we lose together,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “I’m not going to sit here and criticize that goal.”
Sabres winger Zach Benson said Luukkonen has “been a rock for us.”
“He made some huge saves tonight, he said. “He really kept us in that game.”
Pavel Zacha scored a power-play goal at 18:10, redirecting a shot in the slot. The Sabres heard boos from some fans in the capacity crowd of 19,070 in KeyBank Center when the second period ended.
So, which goalie will start Game 3 on Thursday in Boston?
Luukkonen and Lyon formed a dynamic tandem as they alternated starts over an 18-game stretch until late March. Then Lyon struggled for a few games and missed time with a muscle strain, allowing Luukkonen to take over the net.
“Just felt that there may be a chance we’re going to need him,” Ruff said of giving Lyon his first action since April 4. “May play next game, but just get him a period of play, because he hasn’t played in a while.”
Ruff refused to get down on his team, pointing out they fought to the finish again and made a game that seemed out of reached interesting.
Defenseman Bowen Byram scored 13:54 into the third period before winger Peyton Krebs tallied at 15:08. The Sabres pumped 36 shots on Boston goalie Jeremy Swayman.
After the Sabres pulled Lyon, they buzzed in the Boston zone for the final minutes.
Expect the hatred to grow between the longtime rivals as the series goes on.
Scrums erupted all night. Sabres defenseman Logan Stanley fought Mark Kastelic. Late in the game, former Sabres defenseman Nikita Zadorov flattened Benson at the crease, igniting a melee.
Benson takes a hit and sparks a scrum in the Boston zone #LetsGoBuffalo #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/y5BMBEZsXw
— Buffalo Hockey Moments (@SabresPlays) April 22, 2026
“You heard (Bruins coach Marco Sturm) say they’re bigger, more physical, so, yeah, for sure,” Ruff replied, tongue firmly in cheek, when asked about the temperature of the series going up. “I’m a little worried.”
Benson, Zadorov, Sabres center Tage Thompson and Boston’s Andrew Peeke each received a roughing penalty and a 10-minute misconduct.
“The pushback was great,” Ruff said. “This is playoff hockey. There was lots of stuff going on. It’s a battle of who can suck the other person in basically. Can I get him to take a penalty in some of these scrums, or can I take a punch to draw a penalty? It’s playoff hockey.”
Eleven Sabres had never experienced playoff hockey until Sunday.
“In a matter of few days, they’ve been able to experience two games,” Ruff said. “… I walked in the dressing room, I said there’s a lot of things I like about our team and I like about our players. There’s areas we’re going to have to get better at, but (I) don’t want to see one person doubting that we’re not going to go into Boston and win a hockey game.”
