The Sabres’ best effort so far this season results in a 4-0 win against Colorado and earns Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen his first NHL shutout.
BUFFALO — So much of everything that surrounded the Buffalo Sabres heading into Sunday’s matchup against the Colorado Avalanche wreaked of negative vibes despite evidence in their play that things are better than their results.
The tough loss in New Jersey on Friday left a sour taste in everyone’s mouth, a lot of that thanks to the forever-in-the-gray way penalties are decided, particularly ones that are supposedly automatic. There was the lower-body injury to goalie Eric Comrie that will have him out week-to-week with MRI results to come that forced Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen into action late in that game and into the No. 1 position with Devon Levi still off the ice with a lower-body issue.
Mix in Connor Clifton’s earned two-game suspension for delivering an illegal check to the head of Devils captain Nico Hischier and Jacob Bryson getting into the lineup for the first time this season along with three totally new forward lines and…yeah, there were reasons to be skeptical of the outcome.
Instead, Luukkonen delivered 24 saves in his first career NHL shutout, the Sabres put four goals on the board against the Avalanche and gave them their second loss of the season in a 4-0 outcome at home.
“We’re getting to our game,” Sabres coach Don Granato said. “I felt we’re nine games in now and it’s probably not good of me to say we haven’t gotten to our game when you think of nine games in, but our attention has been diverted to probably last season and some of the things we perceive that might have been our doom and buttoning up in certain areas. And when your intention goes to that—with the intensity that we’ve had to do that—you can lose yourself and what you’re actually good at. But that push has been good.
“I think our guys have taken those things to heart and will continue to develop in the areas that we need to as we’ve laid it out, and I think we’re starting to get a little bit more comfortable with that where we can now move back to our game. But we need to be a high-tempo team and we just haven’t been able to do that lately. Tonight was a good game to get that feel back and obviously we want that to continue.”
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When you think of the things the Sabres have and haven’t done well through their first eight games, what comes to mind first?
OK, not everyone yell “goaltending” all at once, ok? Yes, it’s been a major focus of attention and for multiple excellent reasons from management down to the goalies themselves. The three-goalie setup does no one any favors and it makes life more difficult for the coaches and goalies themselves. Everyone wants to get in a rhythm and carry the team ahead and it’s hard for that to happen when there are both three players vying for ice time and then injuries taking guys out of action.
But with Levi still out of action (it’s shaping up he’ll practice on Tuesday; the team has a scheduled off day Monday) and Comrie likely out of action for a while, it’s up to Luukkonen to hold down the situation and take control of the net for however long that means.
His first start of the season in Ottawa was very encouraging apart from the team crumbling around him late in the third period with a 5-1 lead that turned into a sweaty 5-4 win. His relief work against New Jersey after Comrie’s injury can be taken with some kind of variably sized grain of salt, particularly since the Devils’ go-ahead goal went off of Mattias Samuelsson and then off of Erik Haula in front of the net. They deserved a better result that game because they played strong. Hockey is cruel sometimes though.
But against Colorado, Luukkonen handled his business and played it cool. Did he have to stand on his head? Not exactly, but he had the saves to make in the moments when things could’ve tipped in Colorado’s direction had he not. Sure, that sounds like Goaltending 101, but if we’ve learned anything about goaltending in Buffalo the past few years, sometimes that’s all that’s required to keep a game going in the right direction.
“He was rock solid back there all night,” Tage Thompson said. “They had a lot of good looks on their peeper, and he came up big-time. That’s big momentum for us when you kill those penalties off or even if they get a grade-A and he comes up big there. So, hat’s off to him, he played great tonight.”
Luukkonen said getting this first shutout was a long time coming for him. It came in his 49th NHL game and in his 47th career start. For a guy that was drafted in the second round in 2017 and made his first career start in April 2021, notching his first shutout against a team like Colorado means a hell of a lot.
“It feels great, especially now when it’s only my second start of the season and maybe in Ottawa the numbers didn’t reflect how good I felt in that game,” Luukkonen said. “It’s really a confidence booster for me.”
It should be, shutouts for goalies are great like that, but the key for him will be how he carries that ahead. If Levi isn’t ready to go Wednesday in Philadelphia, it’ll be Luukkonen going again.
By now you’re all tired of hearing or reading about how good Luukkonen played last season through late November into early January, but that gave us an idea of how good he can be when he locks it in. He feels like he’s a better player this year and in the tiny sample size he’s provided, he’s right. His .915 save percentage is excellent and his high-danger goals saved above expected at 5-on-5 are in the positive numbers (via Natural Stat Trick). Again, it’s a small sample size, but encouraging numbers are always good to have.
“Well, it’s nice, obviously, for (Luukkonen) to have a night like tonight because he puts the work in, and it was 60 minutes of consistency for him,” Granato said. “Glad nothing happened at 4-0 and there was a bad bounce, because he deserved the shutout, and he earned it.”
What gets lost in the shutout hoopla is the superb performance from one of the new lines assembled in this one: Jeff Skinner—Casey Mittelstadt—JJ Peterka. Mittelstadt and Peterka each had goals and Skinner had the primary assist on both of them. For Peterka it was a promotion and a means to get him going more consistently with a pair of guys who have been outstanding all season long.
“It just feels good to get rewarded when you work hard and get those opportunities and obviously, I try to capitalize on those,” Peterka said. “The work ethic (helped us go), just trying to find the other guys. When you play in the league you’ve always got to prepare to play with other guys and there’s so many good players in this locker room that it makes it pretty easy that you can adjust pretty quick.”
Peterka has been a common pick from fans and media alike to have a breakout season and with Jack Quinn out of action it made even more sense to highlight him to do just that. His goal against Colorado was his fourth of the season and that trio feasted against the Avalanche.
At 5-on-5, that line had two-thirds of the shot attempts when they were on the ice (14-7) and had 89.9 percent of the expected goals-for (via NaturalStatTrick). They were sheltered heavily getting 100 percent of their starts in the offensive zone, but if you’re going to get that kind of action you’d better dominate, and they did. For one game, it’s a great outcome against a great team.
The key to building on wins like this is staying grounded in the work that was done and building on the positives. That’s a lot of coach-like speak for me to use, but it’s true.
This is a murderous stretch of games for the Sabres and beating a road-weary Colorado team eager to get home is a great win. A home-and-home against a Flyers team that’s playing well (and a team that wrecked Buffalo all last season) is a prime test for them. That their game at home Friday is followed by a brutal road test in Toronto Saturday will be a fascinating study of how they’re able to balance their newfound defensive strength and the temptation to open things up. Taking more than a couple points against Philly would make for a turn in the right direction.