NEW YORK – JJ Peterka and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen have had an ongoing competition to see who can get the better of each other in practice dating back to their days in Rochester.
Peterka claims to have the upper hand, though Luukkonen may have something to say about that. But the competition has also given Peterka a front-row seat to the years of daily work that have gone into the success Luukkonen is currently enjoying, still only 24 years old and in his fifth professional season.
“I think just his mentality to get better every day, work hard in the gym, work hard on the ice, go there early,” Peterka said when asked what's led to Luukkonen's growth. “I think just his work ethic overall.”
The save Luukkonen made on Jimmy Vesey inside Madison Square Garden on Monday – a Hasek-esque robbery with his paddle – may well be featured prominently on season-ending highlight reels. But it was his consistency through a 25-save performance that propelled the Sabres to a 5-1 win over the New York Rangers, a team that had lost just four games all season entering the night.
In fact, consistency was a defining quality for the Sabres as a whole in their response to Saturday’s 7-2 loss in New Jersey. They opened the scoring on a goal from Peterka during the first period and led the rest of the way, with Alex Tuch adding a pair of goals and Casey Mittelstadt contributing a goal and two assists. Kyle Okposo delivered the finishing touches with a goal in the final seconds.
“I thought we played a full 60 minutes and it’s been probably a long time since we’ve been able to say that,” Tuch said. “It felt really good. I think all 20 of us were going tonight, led by UPL.”
The Rangers entered Monday tied atop the Eastern Conference standings with a 15-3-1 record and were coming off a convincing win over the team they were tied with, the Boston Bruins. They had been held to less than three goals just twice this season.
New York made pushes – including a power-play goal from Mika Zibanejad that cut the Sabres’ lead to 2-1 with 11:52 remaining in the third period, amplifying what had already been a raucous MSG crowd. But the Sabres stayed the course, holding the Rangers without a shot for the remainder of the game.
“They came at us pretty hard, but I liked the way our guys responded,” Sabres coach Don Granato said. “Even their feel on the bench, their talk on the bench. They stayed aggressive, they stayed assertive, they didn’t back off. Upie was great through the whole game.”
Luukkonen entered the night with a .914 save percentage, tied for 10th among NHL goaltenders with at least 10 games played. That number had ballooned to .938 in his last four appearances, including a 31-save performance in Buffalo’s comeback win over Pittsburgh on Friday.
Granato spoke Monday morning about how Luukkonen had made the most of his experience, with parts of four NHL seasons now under his belt. The result of late, Granato said, has been a more comfortable, confident goaltender with room still to grow.
Luukkonen’s presence was apparent as he shut out the Rangers through 40 minutes. He stopped Artemi Panarin on a mini breakaway to preserve Buffalo’s 1-0 lead during the first period, then turned away Alexis Lafreniere’s attempt at the rebound. He came to the top of the crease to stop Vincent Trocheck right at his doorstep during the second period.
His most memorable save was the robbery on Vesey, who came from the left side with a seemingly open net to shoot into. Luukkonen lunged his body left to right and caught the puck with his stick, sending it through the blue paint and inches wide of the goal.
