The Buffalo Sabres might face the possibility of a goaltending crisis, less than a week remains before the start of the regular season.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, the Sabres’ No. 1 goalie in 2024-25, was ready to begin a redemptive path after an inconsistent end to last season when he made his first preseason start Wednesday.
Instead, it turned into an early exit for Luukkonen, and it may create at least a short-term quandary in goal for the Sabres, who dropped a 5-3 loss to the Penguins at KeyBank Center.
Luukkonen made 11 saves, but the Sabres lifted Luukkonen after the first period. Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said that Luukkonen didn’t feel quite right in goal, even after he made his first saves.
“We took him out, precautionary, and we’ll see where he’s at (Thursday),” Ruff said. “We didn’t want to really risk anything.
“I thought he looked good, but we don’t want to take a chance with him.”
Ruff maintained a brave face after the loss when he met with the media, despite the fact that his No. 1 goalie may have re-aggravated a lower-body injury that kept him out for the first week of training camp.
“In the big picture, why risk it even more, if he’s not feeling quite right?” Ruff said.
Ruff also shut down the question of if the Sabres have formed a contingency plan if Luukkonen is not ready for the season opener Oct. 9 against the New York Rangers.
“We’ll deal with that when it comes,” Ruff said. “I’m not going to get into ‘ifs’ right now.”
Alexandar Georgiev replaced Luukkonen at the start of the second, a period earlier than he was originally planning to enter the game. Ruff said earlier in the week that the coaching staff had to decide if Luukkonen would play either two periods or the entire game Wednesday against the Penguins.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made his first start of the preseason Wednesday against the Penguins, but was not on the ice or the bench at the start of the second period. A Sabres spokesperson confirmed that Luukkonen re-aggravated the lower-body injury that kept him out of the start of training camp, and will not play for the remainder of the game.
“Mike Bales came and said, ‘you’re going in,’ ” said Georgiev, who made 10 saves. “It’s unfortunate. (Luukkonen) played so well in the first period. I’m hoping it’s nothing too serious here.”
The Sabres weren’t about to pin the loss on their goaltending suddenly being in flux. Instead, they pinned it upon themselves.
Rasmus Dahlin cut the Penguins’ lead to 4-3 with 8:19 left on a power-play goal, after Blake Lizotte took a four-minute double-minor penalty for high-sticking after he clipped Radim Mrtka in the face and drew blood. After Dahlin’s goal, the Sabres missed a prime net-front chance with about six minutes left, when Jason Zucker’s one-timer from the glove side of Penguins goalie Arturs Silovs (27 saves) went wide of the goal. Filip Hallander put away the game for Pittsburgh with an empty-net goal with 2:03 left.
“It was a sloppy game,” said Josh Norris, who scored two goals in the loss. “I just didn’t think we were very detailed, myself and our line, included. It’s preseason, so obviously the games don’t count, but you’re trying to build towards the regular season and it wasn’t a good enough effort by us.”
Numbers dwindle on defense
The Sabres’ goaltending isn’t the only potential problem area as the preseason winds down to a matter of days.
Michael Kesselring didn’t play in the third period, but Ruff also said Wednesday night that Kesselring re-aggravated an unspecified injury he’s been dealing with in training camp, and that Kesselring is day-to-day
“Nothing serious,” Ruff said. “It’s something he’s been dealing with, the whole camp.”
Buffalo Sabres center Jiri Kulich returns to the spot in the lineup where he grew up playing, in Czechia, after missing four days of the preseason with a muscle strain.
Kesselring is the fourth Sabres defenseman to sustain an injury in the last week, thinning a group that’s already meager when it comes to NHL experience as the season opener approaches a week from Thursday against the New York Rangers at KeyBank Center.
Ruff confirmed Monday that Mattias Samuelsson is week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Bowen Byram is currently day-to-day with an upper-body injury and resumed skating with the team Wednesday morning. Ruff said Tuesday that Owen Power is day-to-day with a muscle strain.
Kesselring’s departure Wednesday left the Sabres with five defensemen in the third. Among the scrambled defensive pairings? Dahlin skated with Conor Timmins, Timmins with Jacob Bryson or with Dahlin, and Bryson with Ryan Johnson or Timmins.
Much in how he discussed the Sabres’ current goaltending situation, Ruff was unruffled when discussing the statuses of his defensemen so late in the preseason.
“I feel Byram’s ready to come back in, whether we play him or not,” Ruff said. “Power’s really close to coming back in. We don’t know where Kesselring will be at, but I feel pretty confident that we’re going to probably have them all back.”
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Rachel Lenzi
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