Never mind who the shutouts have come against, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is taking care of the net, something that hasn’t happened in ages in Buffalo.
BUFFALO — Seeing a Buffalo Sabres goaltender post a shutout streak of any number of minutes these past few years has been a rare and rather stunning occurrence. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has rattled off two consecutive shutouts and has a shutout streak of 157:55 that he’ll take into his next start, whenever that is.
For what it’s worth, the last time a Sabres goalie posted back-to-back shutouts was October 2019 when Carter Hutton did it against Dallas (25 saves) and Los Angeles (47 saves) and the last time a Sabres goalie had a shutout streak of this length was Ryan Miller in 2010 when his went for 161:35. Luukkonen’s is the ninth longest streak in team history.
In his past six starts, Luukkonen is 5-1-0 with a .956 save percentage and a goals-against average of 1.17. Yes, the shutouts have come against the two worst teams in the NHL (San Jose and Chicago), but the one loss came in a stellar effort against Vancouver in which he allowed one measly goal but also included wins against Pittsburgh, Ottawa, and Columbus.
All right, so they can’t all be against the best in the league.
But the fact of the matter is he’s doing the job and playing extremely well and that’s something Sabres goalies of the recent past haven’t done. Hell, it’s something this year’s Sabres did earlier this year. This isn’t to say beggars can’t be choosers, but when the competition in goal has been more about who’s screwed up the least instead of who’s playing the best, Luukkonen is playing outstanding in goal regardless of competition.
“He’s a young goalie and a young guy that continues to get better every day through the right practices,” Sabres coach Don Granato said. “He’s very adamant about making himself better. He’s using every experience that he’s been given, every opportunity he’s had over the last year to become better. He’ll be here early in the morning with Mike Bales, our goalie coach, wanting more clips. He’ll go on the ice early tomorrow wanting more drills and he’ll ask players to shoot on him more. Whether that be Thompson or Tuch or anybody. So, he’s doing the right things to make himself better. I just think we’re seeing the accumulation of him doing the right things over a longer period of time now.”
After a 3-0 win against the Blackhawks on Thursday night, the Sabres have won six of their past nine games and are playing with a bit more confidence and resolve, something that’s been more than apparent in Luukkonen’s performances of late.
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It’s a remarkable run for Luukkonen who’s battled to establish himself as the guy the team (and organization for that matter) can rely on in goal. While Luukkonen had a hot run last season during November and December, the difference in his play now compared to then is more than noticeable.
Confidence in a hockey player is arguably the biggest intangible trait. Breaking news, I know, but it goes such a long way in how they perform and when it affects the rest of the team as well, the collective confidence of the group shines through. But when it’s the goalie playing confidently, that’s infectious.
“A few odd-man rushes today and he was calm in the net,” Rasmus Dahlin said. “He takes the first one and we take the rebound. That creates a lot of calm on the team. I’m very happy for him. He’s playing great now right now and he earns it.”
The Sabres only gave up four shots on goal to Chicago in the first period and seven total shot attempts in all situations. On paper it was light work, but in reality it was odd-man chances for Chicago that created more than a few held breaths. After all, the Sabres confidence has all too often disappeared after giving up a goal, particularly the first one of the game. Still, making the saves or forcing shots wide with his presence and the defense back checking to help out brought the temperature down and the ability to laugh about all those opportunities after the game.
“You can’t go and tell them to only shoot from the blue line, but that happens sometimes,” Luukkonen said. “When you feel confident, you feel the team is playing great in front of you so that helps. You can’t dictate it too much where they’re going to shoot from so you have to be ready for anything.”
You can take the competition into more consideration if you want to when it comes to this hot run from Luukkonen, but regardless of that he’s playing like a guy who not only deserves more starts but wants and expects them now too.
There is concern for how this affects Devon Levi to consider as well.
As Luukkonen could attest from his own experience, sitting around and not playing as a young player in pro hockey benefits no one. The player doesn’t get the in-game action they need, and the team doesn’t get to help their young player develop properly. The Sabres’ recent weather interruptions took away practice time and the compacted schedule meant without practice, throwing Levi into a game (even games against bad teams) would be setting him up to have a hard time.
Levi hasn’t played since the 5-2 loss to Seattle on January 9. He didn’t play particularly well in that game and the aforementioned lack of real practice time coupled with Luukkonen playing outstanding means Levi has to sit tight and wait. If he doesn’t start against Tampa Bay on Saturday, he may not play again until the Sabres hit California next week when they’ve got a back-to-back with Anaheim and Los Angeles and another matchup with San Jose.
It’s absolutely a concern about Levi, but you cannot take Luukkonen out of the rhythm he’s in right now. If that means swapping Levi with Eric Comrie in Rochester, so be it, but he’s got to play games and the Sabres need wins and points.
On the offensive front…
Buffalo got goals from Zemgus Girgensons tipping a Ryan Johnson shot, JJ Peterka banking one in off the side of Blackhawks goalie Arvid Söderblom’s helmet, and Dahlin firing one that went off a Chicago player while Zach Benson drove the net to create traffic. They don’t have to be highlight reel-worthy to count and that’s something these Sabres are starting to figure out with more regularity.
“We’re playing with mojo right now,” Dahlin said. “We’re not afraid to make plays, and we back up each other if someone messes up or something. We’re playing a good team game right now. We’re calm with the puck and make the right plays.”
It’s a confidence thing again with this group. Getting the first goal helped them settle down and even though they were still a little bit reckless with the puck after that, they were more in their element and playing with their heads up. A lot of what they did and got away with against Chicago and San Jose probably doesn’t play against most other teams, but whatever, fix it in post and on to the next one.