BUFFALO – After just one game, carrying an extra goalie paid off for the Sabres.
On Saturday morning, rookie Colten Ellis, who had traveled to Toronto ahead of his teammates to be ready for his scheduled start, woke up with a stiff back.
Ellis, 25, tested the injury before the Sabres decided he couldn’t play against the Maple Leafs.s
No problem. They still had goalies Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, 26, and Alex Lyon, 32, on their roster. Luukkonen replaced Ellis, stopping 18 shots in his season debut, a 4-3 overtime loss.
“All of a sudden, we got three goalies, we had two goalies we can have in the game,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said following Monday’s practice in KeyBank Center. “There’s a plus for that.”
Of course, there are minuses to keeping three netminders. Most notably, practice reps and game action can be limited. Someone’s always the odd man out.
The Sabres, who host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday, want to keep Ellis as insurance because Luukkonen has already battled two lower-body injuries this season.
Having claimed Ellis off waivers Oct. 6, if they tried to send him to the AHL, he would possibly be reclaimed by the St. Louis Blues, who have first dibs and the ability to assign him to the minor.
Ellis looked sharp in his NHL debut on Wednesday, stopping 27 shots in a 4-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings. He could start again as soon as Tuesday or Thursday in Boston against the Bruins.
The newcomer went through a full practice Monday.
“I woke up today, it’s feeling good today, so it’s progressing well,” he said.
Ruff said he told Ellis he “got old man back.”
“He’s not 19 anymore,” he joked. “He’s older, and now the back tightens up.”
Naturally, losing an NHL start wasn’t easy for Ellis.
“He’s handling it well, awfully disappointed he wasn’t able to play, which is good, but that’s the unexpected that happens in the game,” Ruff said.
Each of the goalies have experience in a three-goalie system.
Early in his career, Luukkonen shared time with Craig Anderson and Eric Comrie.
“It’s not the first time it’s been like that, so you just focus on your own game, your own practices, your own stuff,” Luukkonen said following Saturday’s game. “We have two, Alex and Ellie, they’re really good goalies. Just overall, the biggest thing is to win. It doesn’t really matter who’s in the net. Everything is earned in this league.”
The Red Wings often kept three goalies during Lyon’s two-year tenure before signing with the Sabres on July 1.
“For me, it’s pretty normal,” said Lyon, who compiled a .924 save percentage while starting seven of the Sabres’ first eight games. “In Detroit, we ran with three a lot, and it’s just like any other thing, it’s a learned skill. Once you learn, kind of how to adjust to it, deal with, it’s no skin off my back.”
Two years ago, the Springfield Thunderbirds, the Blues’ top affiliate, carried three goalies during Ellis’ first long stint in the AHL.
“I think here we all have a great relationship with each other,” Ellis said. “Like, I’m learning a lot from them every day, so I think just using that to my advantage, where I’ve got two guys who have been in the league for a long time.”
The healthy relationship they enjoy helps foster competition.
“It’s fun for me because I get in here and I see that this big man here (Luukkonen), and I’m like, ‘Whoa, really, really special goalie,’” Lyon said. “And so it’s fun for me to, like, want to push and push and push, and I hope that I can do the same for those guys and the other guys on the team.”
Lyon paid a lot of dues before finally sticking in the NHL, playing 202 games over parts of seven seasons with three AHL teams. He has willingly shared his wisdom with Ellis.
“He’s been great for me,” Ellis said. “Even just being able to bounce some ideas that I have off him, he’s been really, like, receptive to it and sharing his experience with me and what he’s been through and what’s kind of got him to this level. It’s awesome to have a guy like that around.”