BUFFALO – So much for that late-season optimism the Sabres had been generating. Suddenly, they’ve lost four straight games.
Not that they’ve been performing poorly, mind you. No, they’ve led in three of those contests and lost once in a shootout.
They haven’t been finding ways to win like they did beginning in mid-March.
In Tuesday’s 4-0 loss, a game closer than the score indicates, they trailed 1-0 in the third period before the Toronto Maple Leaf pulled away late, scoring three times in about three minutes.
Still, the Sabres refused to take any solace in staying close with the Maple Leafs for most of the night.
“We can’t be happy with 50 minutes,” winger Jason Zucker said after the Sabres’ seven-game home winning streak ended. “That’s all I’ll say to that.”
The Sabres generated offense throughout the contest, pumping 35 shots on goalie Anthony Stolarz before the bipartisan crowd of 17,160 fans in KeyBank Center. They received some terrific netminding from Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who looked sharp all night, stopping 28 shots.
“He gave us a great effort, great effort,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “It looked like he was dialed in.”
With Luukkonen on the bench late in the third period for an extra attacker, Stolarz made a few critical saves, keeping the game at 2-0. Maybe a week or two ago the Sabres would’ve scored and grabbed the momentum.
Instead, the superstar Auston Matthews scored an empty-netter at 18:08, his 400th NHL goal, to seal the win and clinch the Atlantic Division title.
With Luukkonen back in, Nick Robertson made it 4-0 at 18:43.
“I hated the fourth goal, because he gave us a good game,” Ruff said of Luukkonen. “… That goal (ticked) me off.”
Steven Lorentz opened the scoring 14:15 into the second period. Mitch Marner made it 2-0 15:39 into the third period, his 100th point this season.
Luukkonen was the Sabres’ best player, making a slew of big stops to keep the game tied or within reach, including a breakaway save on William Nylander in the third period.
The Finn has endured a rough season, regressing after his breakout campaign. He recently took a backseat to journeyman backup James Reimer for a few weeks. But in his last three outings, he has looked more like the goalie who morphed into one of the NHL’s best down the stretch last season.
The Sabres, who close the season Thursday at home against the Philadelphia Flyers, needed Luukkonen to straighten out his game heading into the offseason.
“There’s, of course, confidence,” Luukkonen said of what has changed in his last few starts. “I feel like I’m playing a little bit deeper again and making the right reads, trusting my own game rather than just kind of playing the puck carrier too much.
“Of course, I got bailed out a couple times by our D-men today, so they did a great job today, too. But I feel like the trust in my own game over the couple last games has been way better than before.”
Ruff said Luukkonen has recently looked calmer and “just a little bit more under control.”
“I think he’s trusting his reads just a little bit more,” he said.
The Sabres’ struggles this season can be dissected a thousand ways. But if Luukkonen played at his 2023-24 level again, they might’ve stayed in the playoff race longer or earned that elusive spot.
Tuesday’s outing raised his save percentage to .887 this season. He finished at .910 a year ago.
As a team, the Sabres have displayed some porous defense for much of the season. Luukkonen, however, just wants to focus on his own game.
“I don’t want to hide behind the fact that as a team, the game hasn’t been where want it to,” he said following his 55th game this season, a career high. “I got to be better, too, and I feel like that’s what kind of helps me through those moments, just kind of focus on my own game knowing that I have to be better rather than just finding excuses somewhere else.
“We’re not going to play perfect every night, so it’s either just kind of focus on your own stuff, and during those stretches I got to be better. And it’s kind of easier to just focus on that.”
