BUFFALO – In a game he called the craziest of his life, as chaos enveloped around his crease and the Tampa Bay Lightning scored seven times, Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen tried to forget about the score and simply focus on making the next save.
“At a certain point, you just have to think about, ‘We can win this game,’ and give the team a chance to kind of keep the score close and try to give it a chance to win,” Luukkonen said Tuesday of his 21-save outing in Sunday’s thrilling 8-7 triumph in raucous KeyBank Center.
Forget that Luukkonen allowed seven goals. None of the them were soft.
The Finn’s effort in a fight-filled game he called “complete mayhem” ranks as one of the most significant of his career.
When Brandon Hagel attacked Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin in the second period, Luukkonen raced out to defend his teammate as a melee erupted and was ready to briefly joined the fray.
“Even in a game like that, there’s a line of stuff which you do and which you can’t do, and (you) don’t jump on someone’s back,” Luukkonen said. “And, really, as a goalie, you can’t just stand there when stuff like that happens, especially when it’s your captain. … That one crossed the line.”
Luukkonen kept battling against the Lightning, long of the NHL’s heavyweights, and ultimately backstopped the Sabres to their seventh consecutive win and into sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division.
So that his goals-against average went up 19 points to 2.74 and his save percentage dropped to five points to .905 hardly matters.
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff defended Luukkonen following the game and again Tuesday.
“I wanted him to stay in the fight, be part of it, make that one or two saves we’re going to need to either get back in the game or give us a chance to win the game,” he said prior to Tuesday’s game against the San Jose Sharks.
Luukkonen, 27, accomplished all of that, helping the Sabres notch their most significant win in close to a generation.
He said Ruff’s faith in him “means a lot to me.”
“This whole year he has given me my chances,” he said. “He has trusted me in big moments. Even though I’ve been injured and all that, he has given me my chances to play, and I’ve proven that I can stand up to that chance.”
Of course, Luukkonen, who sat out Tuesday’s game, knows must perform better than he did Sunday. He has been rock solid this season, combining with Alex Lyon to form one of the NHL’s best goaltending tandems.
“Seven goals is way too much as a goalie,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you have 20 breakaways, you still don’t want to let in seven. That’s kind of where the tough part is when you feel like there wasn’t really any soft goals necessarily. So you just mentally have to stay solid.”
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When Sabres newcomer Logan Stanley sat out Tuesday’s pregame skate, it seemed unlikely he would play hours later.
But the 6-foot-7, 231-pound Stanley, who skated on his own as he waited for his visa to be completed, made his Sabres debut against the Sharks, skating alongside 6-foot-5 defenseman Michael Kesselring.
Stanley quickly made his presence known, fighting Zack Ostapchuk in the 15:34 into the contest.
The Sabres brought in Stanley and defenseman Luke Schenn on Friday from the Winnipeg Jets to beef up their depth on the back end.
Schenn and winger Tanner Pearson, who was acquired Friday in a separate trade, haven’t played yet.
To make room for Stanley, who wore No. 64, the Sabres scratched rookie defenseman Zach Metsa.
Stanley, a left-handed shot, allowed them to balance each defense pair.
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The Sabres also scratched centers Josh Dunne (healthy) and Tyson Kozak (undisclosed injury).
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Sabres winger Alex Tuch played his 600th NHL game.