Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has done all he can to cement his spot on the Sabres roster.
The team currently has a winning streak going thanks to a 3-2 shootout win over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night. With points in their last three games, and wins in their last two, this young Sabres team has seen a marked improvement with the emergence of their rookie goaltender and his 2-2-1 record over the past five games.
The Sabres had a solid opening period as they carried play and outshot Minnesota by a large margin. Even when Buffalo made mistakes, as John Hayden did on an ill-advised giveaway, Mark Pysyk was there to bail him out on a nice defensive-zone breakup as the defenseman got his stick on a cross-ice, 2-on-1 opportunity. Hayden drew back into the Sabres lineup as a result of Anders Bjork missing the game due to a non-Covid illness.
The away team outshot the Western-Conference leading Minnesota Wild by an 11-4 to margin midway through the first, though the Sabres were unable to capitalize on their chances. The Wild broke the stalemate at the 10:11 mark of the first period as Jon Merill Scored his third of the year on a blistering point slapshot that beat Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen on the glove side. That was one of only 6 shots for Minnesota in the first 20.
Victor Olofsson had perhaps the best chance of the first period for Buffalo as he stole the puck from teammate Jeff Skinner in front of the net and fired a blast onto Minnesota Wild goaltender Cam Talbot. That’s at least the second time in a week that Olofsson has stolen the puck off Skinner’s stick. Weird. The Sabres were awarded their second powerplay of the period shotly thereafter and continued to apply pressure with the extra attacker. Talbot was up to the challenge on Buffalo’s powerplay opportunities and indeed all of their first-period opportunities as he made 19 saves in the first 20 minutes. The Sabres were simply unable to solve him despite playing a terrific period of hockey overall.
The pace cooled off considerably in the second period. The Sabres managed at least one grade-a scoring opportunity as Vinnie Hinostroza fed Rasmus Asplund on a partial 2-on-1. Had the puck not hopped over Asplund’s stick, he would have had a good look at a goal with Talbot falling down to the ice. The Sabres reverted to a cycle-based game as the period wore on which meant that chances were fewer with the puck being played along the walls and down low for much of the second.
That cycle game finally paid off as Dylan Cozens netted his 8th goal of the season following some hard work down low from Kyle Okposo who forced a Cam Talbot giveaway behind the net. It looked as though Okposo directed the puck to the point and thus deserved a secondary assist on Henri Jokiharju’s point shot that was deflected by Cozens, though the NHL decided not to award a secondary assist to the Sabres’ alternate captain.
There would be little chance for the blue and gold to build on that goal, however, as Rasmus Dahlin took a double-minor high-sticking penalty that left his team shorthanded for a fifth of the period. They never were able to regain their footing offensively for the duration of the second, and only mustered seven shots overall.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has been a real treat to watch over his past five games. He’s demonstrated an interesting mix of speed and calmness that is a departure from the rest of the goalies on the roster. He moves incredibly fast to get himself into position before settling into a calm stance square to the shooter, as opposed to the slow, calculated movements of Craig Anderson or the chaotic movements of Dustin Tokarski. His athleticism is clearly evident. That said, the second Wild goal was a little weak as Kirill Kaprizov beat him five-hole with less than a minute to play in the middle frame. That kind of soft goal will happen to a rookie goaltender.
It looked like the Sabres would be sent home with a 2-1 loss as the Wild played the Sabres to a stalemate for a majority of the third period until Pysyk squeaked one by Talbot with under 8 minutes to play in regulation. Vinnie Hinostroza corralled the puck down low and then fed a nifty cross-ice pass to a streaking Pysyk who threaded a wrist shot between Talbot’s body and blocker to make it a 2-2 game.
Henri Jokiharju then took a puck off the face in the defensive zone which led to a grade-a scoring opportunity for the wild who nearly took advantage of an incapacitated Jokiharju to take the lead with 3:00 to play. UPL managed to come up with the big save to keep things knotted at two apiece as Jokiharju went to the locker room to get his bloody face fixed. From there, the two teams played to a draw as the game entered extra innings, with UPL making a solid save on Marcus Foligno in the dying seconds of regulation to ensure the Sabres got at least a point.
Overtime was a bit of a snoozer – as most have in recent weeks – with the best chance coming courtesy of Dylan Cozens with approximately 8 seconds left. Cozens fed the puck between the wickets of Talbot, but the puck squirted out to the left of the net rather than finding twine. During the skills competition, UPL was a perfect 3-for-3 and Tage Thompson netted the game winner for the Sabres.
Management faces a massive decision on what to do with UPL now that Dustin Tokarski is set to come back following his stint on the Covid-exempt list. He’s done all he can do to keep his spot on this roster.
It’s up to Kevyn Adams now. Will UPL stay or go?