One of the biggest questions heading into the Sabres’ season was whether head coach Lindy Ruff would continue using a goaltending merry-go-round, rotating Ellis, Lyon, and Luukkonen in and out of the crease. Four games into the preseason, the question has shifted: who will be healthy enough to take a turn on the ride?
The Sabres finished their exhibition schedule Saturday night with a 3–1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at KeyBank Center. More concerning than the result, however, was an apparent lower-body injury to goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who left the game 3:47 into the third period. His injury follows Alex Lyon’s shoulder injury, which forced him out of Thursday night’s game.
Before leaving, Luukkonen stopped 15 of 17 shots.
Sidney Crosby opened the scoring at the nine-minute mark of the first period. After three Sabres chased Penguins forward Tommy Novak toward the bench side of the ice, Novak sent the puck across to a wide-open Crosby. The Penguins captain skated in and fired past Luukkonen to make it 1–0.
Pittsburgh added to its lead less than two minutes later. Ville Koivunen beat his countryman Luukkonen with a jam shot off a rebound at 10:56, making it 2–0.
The Sabres had their chances, putting 24 shots on Penguins goaltender Arturs Silovs, including several from point-blank range. They finally broke through when Ryan McLeod fired a laser of a one-timer from the faceoff dot on the power play. Silovs had no chance to stop it. McLeod’s first goal of the preseason cut Pittsburgh’s lead to one at 11:30 of the third period, but Buffalo couldn’t find the equalizer.
Nick Robertson sealed the win with an empty-net goal at 18:55, making the final score 3–1.
The Sabres open the regular season in Columbus on Thursday, October 1.
