BUFFALO – It took more than six weeks – just over one-quarter of the season – for Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to make back-to-back starts.
The Finn missed time battling an injury, mind you. Still, if he was the best option most games, he would’ve taken over the net a long time ago.
The Sabres couldn’t wait for him to find his game, so he has been sharing time with Alex Lyon and rookie Colten Ellis.
Finally, Luukkonen appears to be finding the stellar form that made him the Sabres’ No. 1 netminder for two seasons.
He stood tall throughout Sunday afternoon’s 4-1 win, making 29 saves. He earned another nod because he looked sharp in Friday’s 9-3 shellacking of the Chicago Blackhawks, making 20 saves, including a critical breakaway stop on Connor Bedard to keep the Sabres’ lead at 5-2.
“I’ve kind of felt better with my game, but also, the team played really well in these last couple starts for me,” Luukkonen said. “I don’t think there’s anything too crazy, but the more games you get the better you feel playing. I don’t think there’s necessarily anything too crazy behind it.”
Luukkonen, 26, played well enough at times in his early action this season. In fact, in his only win before the weekend, a 5-4 shootout victory Nov. 1 over the Washington Capitals, he was perhaps the best player on the ice.
But he often failed to give the Sabres a critical, game-changing save. In his last two outings, he morphed into their backbone again.
“I thought tonight he really played great,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “That second and third (periods), couple big opportunities. … When we gave up some good looks – and they’re a good team – he made the save that we needed.”
If Luukkonen seizes the starting job again, remember the last two games, highlighted by his dazzling stop on Bedard, as the turning point in his season.
“I feel like (it was one of) those moments when you really feel like you help the team win even though we ended up scoring a big amount of goals against Chicago,” Luukkonen said following the Sabres’ fourth win in five games. “I feel like those moments when you kind of helped the team to kind of keep the mental state good and help the team win games, it feels good.”
Each Sabres goalie has registered three wins. Ruff has been riding the hot hand – Ellis started three straight games and four of five before Friday – so Luukkonen will likely play Wednesday’s road game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The opening weeks of the season have been new experience for Luukkonen, who’s not used to waiting long period for starts or even not dressing for games.
“It’s part of the job,” he said. “… It’s not always optimal, but sometimes you have to work through it at it. We’ve been having two other goalies that have been playing well, so you have to do your thing everyday as well as you can and be ready when your name is called.”
Sabres winger Alex Tuch’s power-play goal opened the scoring 5:51 into the game. Defenseman Jacob Bryson appeared to put the Sabres up 2-0 at 7:55, but on-ice officials waived it off because winger Zach Benson interfered with goalie Frederik Andersen.
The Sabres challenged the call but lost, so they received a delay of game penalty, must to the chagrin of the 18,027 fans in KeyBank Center.
Benson had minimal contact with Andersen, who was set for Bryson’s shot.
“I’m glad I’m not a betting man, because I would’ve lost a lot of money on that one,” Ruff said. “It’s one I totally disagree on. I respect them looking at it and what they said, but things are going to get pretty tight when I look at a couple of goals that we’ve had called to get taken away from us the last couple of games.”
Instead of letting the call rattled them, the Sabres plowed ahead.
“It’s something we talked about a lot last year, we couldn’t get through it,” Ruff said. “It’s that dealing with adversity, where sometimes stuff isn’t going to go your way, and you’ve got to move on fast.”
Shayne Gostisbehere’s power-play goal at 14:36 after Luukkonen was high-sticked in the throat and down and out of the net tied the game.
Winger Jack Quinn put the Sabres up for good 3:55 into the second period, his second goal in as many contests following a 13-game drought.
In a rare display of high-end skill, winger Beck Malenstyn, who’s cast in a checking role, made it 3-1 at 18:36 by undressing Hurricanes star Sebastian Aho in the left circle and zooming in.
“I don’t think it’s successfully worked for me for about 10 years since juniors, so I’ve kept it in the back pocket just in case,” Malenstyn joked of his nifty moves.
Center Tage Thompson scored an empty-netter, extending his goal streak to six games.
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To create a roster spot and activate Benson from injured reserve, the Sabres sent winger Isak Rosen back to the Rochester Americans before the game.
Rosen, 22, enjoyed his best stint in the NHL, scoring three goals and seven points in 10 games.
Before the rookie left, Ruff told him “it’s not the last we’re going to see of you this year.”
Ruff said Rosen can take away “how well he played, the impact he had for us” during his recall.
“He did a real nice job,” he said. “I think the previous conversations were, when you come up you’ve got to be able to make a difference, and he made a difference for us. His play was noticeable, played very well.”
Benson missed 10 games with a lower-body injury.
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The Sabres scratched winger Jordan Greenway, who has undergone two hernia surgeries in the last year, as part of a new plan to get him stronger.
Greenway missed the first 10 games this season and the final weeks of the last one.
“Just strength-wise, he’s not in a good enough place, and I think we’ve talked about it for a couple weeks now,” Ruff said. “How can we get you stronger, how can we get you faster? So we’ve kind of put a plan together, just basically a load-management plan where maybe he can lift for three days, build up strength, play a game, not worry about playing back-to-back.
“Play every three or four days, and let’s see if we can get you to a better place.”
Winger Josh Dunne replaced Greenway.
Notes: The win moved the Sabres to .500 (9-9-4). … Quinn played his 200th NHL game. … Sabres defenseman Bowen Byram, who crashed into the boards Friday, was a game-time decision but played. … The Sabres also scratched Ellis and defenseman Zach Metsa (both healthy).
