5 takeaways | Sabres fall to Rangers despite strong outing from Luukkonen

Don Granato was reminded of Corey Crawford while describing the confidence he saw in Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen on Tuesday.
Granato coached Crawford with the Chicago Blackhawks from 2017 to 2019, after the goaltender already had two Stanley Cups on his resume. If a play had three defensive breakdowns and a goal was allowed, Granato said, Crawford would be mad at himself, not the breakdowns.
"Ukko looks like that," Granato said. "It doesn't matter what happens around him. He wants to make a save. So, great concentration, great focus, and clearly that's a good trait if you're a goaltender."
Luukkonen boxed out the pressures of making his first road start at Madison Square Garden and made 38 saves for the Sabres, who were unable to capitalize on their own offensive chances in a 3-1 loss to the New York Rangers.
Sam Reinhart scored the lone goal of the game for Buffalo.
Here are five takeaways.

1. Luukkonen impresses in start No. 2

The rookie faced just six shots during the first period, which was dominated by the Sabres but ended with the score still 0-0. The workload changed dramatically in the second, which saw Luukkonen face 20 shots and allow just one goal - a screened one-timer from the point with the Rangers on the power play.
"Really you don't think about it actually," Luukkonen said. "Sometimes it's actually even easier to play in periods like that when there's a lot of stuff happening so your mind kind of automatically just is on the game all the time. You don't really have time to count the shots."
Granato said he could see Luukkonen's confidence in the way he carried himself on the ice. He noted the way the rookie stood his ground amid net-front scrums, battled to see shots through traffic, and aggressively faced shooters.
"That's everything, as we know, to be confident," Granato said. "You can see that in a player's posture and how he carries himself. He was good."
Perhaps most telling was Luukkonen's reaction to the go-ahead goal during the third period, a rifle of a one-time shot by Alexis Lafreniere from the slot. To stop it would have required a highlight-reel effort.
Yet Luukkonen - true to his coach's assessment - saw it as an opportunity for accountability.
"It's probably the goal you kind of - I don't want to say have back, but you have to learn from," Luukkonen said. "The play just happens so quickly here, you have to be ready even though your team might have the puck. The pressure comes hard in this league. The turnovers happen and you can't do anything about it always so you just have to be more ready on those plays.
"Of course, a good shot and quick play but it doesn't mean you can't learn from it."

2. Strong start goes unrewarded

The Sabres pounced on the Rangers during the first 20 minutes, earning a 16-6 edge in the shot column and a 7-0 advantage in high-danger scoring chances at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin kept them off the board long enough for the Rangers to make their push during the second period.
"I think it would have been a different game if we bear down early," Casey Mittelstadt said.

3. Reinhart nets another

Reinhart's goal was his fifth in the past three games and team-leading 22nd of the season. With the Sabres on the power play, Reinhart poked the puck away from a defender toward Mittelstadt, who quickly made a return pass to set up the one-time goal with 3.2 seconds to play in the second period.

4. Cozens drops the gloves

Dylan Cozens fought Kevin Rooney after the Rangers forward laid a hit on Drake Caggiula in the neutral zone during the third period. It was the second fight of Cozens' rookie season, the first having come against Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren.
Tune in for a special episode of "Buffalo Sabres: Embedded" presented by BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York chronicling Cozens' journey to this point on Wednesday. The episode premiers at 7 p.m. on YouTube and Facebook and can be found later in the evening here on Sabres.com.

5. Up next

The road trip continues with a pair of games against the Bruins, who remained four points ahead of the Rangers in the East Division standings with a win over the Penguins on Tuesday.
Coverage of the first game begins Thursday at 6:30 p.m. on MSG. Puck drop is scheduled for 7.