BUFFALO – Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who left Wednesday’s 5-3 preseason loss after one period with a lower-body injury, is being evaluated today, coach Lindy Ruff said.
Ruff said the Sabres will know more about Luukkonen’s status later today. He stopped 11 of the 12 shots he faced against the Pittsburgh Penguins before Alexandar Georgiev replaced him.
Luukkonen missed the first week of training camp after tweaking a lower-body injury. Ruff said the Sabres hope the Finn’s latest injury is different than the one that just sidelined him.
“That would be a positive for us,” Ruff said following today’s practice in KeyBank Center.
Ruff said the Sabres plan to start goalie Alex Lyon in Friday’s preseason finale in Pittsburgh and let him play two periods or the entire game.
Meanwhile, Ruff said defenseman Michael Kesselring, who on Wednesday aggravated an undisclosed injury he has been battling throughout camp, is also being evaluated.
Ruff acknowledged Luukkonen and Kesselring could miss next Thursday’s season opener against the New York Rangers.
Some other injury updates from Ruff are below.
– Defenseman Mattias Samuelsson, who suffered an upper-body injury last week, is ahead of schedule and should participate in Friday’s pregame skate.
“Samuelsson is feeling really good,” Ruff said.
– Winger Zach Benson, who has missed the last two days with an undisclosed injury, could practice in a day or two.
– Ruff said defenseman Owen Power, who has missed the last three days with a strain, is “getting real close.”
– Defenseman Bowen Byram practiced again today after missing two days with an upper-body injury and could play Friday.