Luukkonen makes 40 saves to help Sabres earn point in shootout loss

Rookie goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made a career-high 40 saves through regulation and overtime Saturday night to help the Buffalo Sabres earn a point against the Washington Capitals.
The Sabres fell in the shootout 3-2 to Washington at KeyBank Center. Tage Thompson and Dylan Cozens both hit the post in the skills competiton while Victor Olofsson scored. However, the Capitals scored twice, capped off by T.J. Oshie's winner in the bottom of the third round.
Vinnie Hinostroza and Will Butcher scored for the Sabres in regulation, who led 2-1 heading into the third period. Lars Eller and Martin Fehervary were Washington's goal scorers. Vitek Vanacek made 29 saves for the Capitals.
Luukkonen was recalled from the Rochester Americans of the AHL on Monday and has started three games in a row for Buffalo as they deal with injuries in net. In those games, he's 0-2-1, but has posted a .938 save percentage and a 1.98 goals-against average.

Even with Malcolm Subban set to return from an injury that's kept him out for over a week and Dustin Tokarski hopefully exiting the NHL's COVID-19 protocol soon, Sabres coach Don Granato said there's still a chance Luukkonen could earn more playing time in the NHL.

The Sabres, however, will also balance the experience the 22-year-old netminder is receiving now with what is best for his long-term development.
"His ceiling is really high. He's not even close to it. But to see performances like tonight and the last couple nights is great," Granato said. "The control, the confidence. He's in the moment, he's reading shooters."
Saturday's game marked back-to-back starts for Luukkonen. He's grateful for the opportunity and hopes he can establish himself in the NHL.
"I can only play and practice as well as I can," he said. "In the end, it's somebody else's decision, but I'm happy with how the week went personally for me."

Luukkonen's best save of the night came while the Sabres were killing a double-minor penalty early in the third period. At the 1:26 mark of the period, Luukkonen sprawled to his left to make an incredible arm save on Evgeny Kuznetsov.
"That's one of those where you just try to get something in front. It's not something they really teach you, but it's a lucky bounce or whatever happens in front," Luukkonen said. "The puck can go anywhere, so you just try to get in front of the puck."

Collectively, the Sabres felt like they put together one of their better efforts in recent games. They lost 2-1 to the Rangers on Friday, but had the game tied late before an official review took a goal off the board. Against the Capitals, the team felt confident and played with energy.
"Out of the last bunch of games, that was the most we played like ourselves and how we want to play," Hinostroza said. "Obviously, we would like to get the win there, but there's so many positives in that game. That's how we want to play. If we play like that, we're going to start getting a lot more wins here."
The Sabres will be back at practice on Monday before heading out for a three-game road trip. The first game is in Winnipeg on Tuesday.
Faceoff is set for 8 p.m. on MSG and WGR 550 with pregame coverage on MSG starting at 7:30.