Luukkonen, Sabres defeat Hurricanes in shootout 

BUFFALO – Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 30 saves before stopping all four shootout attempts for the Buffalo Sabres in a 3-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes at KeyBank Center on Sunday.

“It’s been awesome,” Buffalo forward Casey Mittelstadt said of Luukkonen’s play. “I think we’re all extremely happy for him. We’ve seen how hard he works and how hard he fights, obviously in practice, and just in general the kind of person he is. I think I speak for everyone when we say we absolutely love playing in front of him.”

Mittelstadt scored the deciding goal in the fourth round of the shootout for the Sabres (27-27-4), who have won three in a row for the first time this season. Jeff Skinner and Owen Power scored.

“They don’t give up much,” Skinner said. “But I think with that patience you still have to have your foot on the gas. I think that we did a good job of that. Unless you continually come after them, they’re not going to give up anything or hurt themselves. They’re a good team, and in order for us to score, obviously we needed to sustain some [offensive] zone pressure, and I thought we did a good job of that, especially toward the end of the game.”

Martin Necas had a goal and an assist, and Tony DeAngelo scored for the Hurricanes (34-18-6), who have lost two straight after a four-game winning streak. Spencer Martin made 30 saves.

“We were pretty awful to be quite honest,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I kind of knew it was going to happen. We were mentally not there. And that’s what happens. We have a tough schedule, and the three in four nights with the travel, and I could just feel it on the bench. We were just not sharp, and thankfully the one guy that’s been rested, Martin, was the difference tonight. He got us a point because we were not there tonight.”

DeAngelo gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead at 2:40 of the first period. Necas passed it from behind the net to Michael Bunting, who hit DeAngelo with a touch pass for a tap in at the right post.

Skinner tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 6:27 of the second period, putting in the rebound of Dylan Cozens’ point shot at the top of the crease.

Necas put Carolina back in front 2-1 at 14:42 of the third period with a one-timer through traffic from the left circle on the power play.

“I thought we responded very well when we gave up the penalty kill goal against,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said. “I think we were frustrated at the call originally, and then frustrated even more that it went in the net. And we funneled it the right way. We elevated our compete instantly. And you got a goal within a minute later. … I thought we could have been much more aggressive to start. I thought, possibly we gave the group on the other side a little bit too much respect at times. But not after that frustration. And loved the compete from that point and the way we elevated.”

Power tied it 2-2 at 15:55 when took a pass from Peyton Krebs from behind the net and beat Martin with a wrist shot from the slot.

“It wasn’t great,” Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said. “There wasn’t really anyone that showed up, played well, besides Spencer. I thought we’d have a little push in the third, and it only got worse. We’re fortunate to get a point and move on from here.”

NOTES: Staal played his 800th game for Carolina, becoming the fourth player in Hurricanes/Whalers history to reach the mark, joining Ron Francis (1,186), Glen Wesley (913) and Eric Staal (909). … Power played 23:05 in his return for Buffalo after missing six games with an upper-body injury. … Skinner has 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in 13 games against Carolina since Buffalo acquired him from the Hurricanes prior to the 2018-19 season. … Luukkonen is first Sabres goalie to make at least four saves and allow no goals in a shootout since Jhonas Enroth on Nov. 29, 2014.