Postgame Report | Luukkonen stops 36 shots in loss to Islanders

NEW YORK -Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen immediately looked toward the referee after Hudson Fasching redirected the puck over the goal line early in the third period inside UBS Arena on Tuesday.
Luukkonen believed Fasching had used a distinct kicking motion to send the puck into the net, his left leg having appeared to move forward as a shot from the point redirected off his shin. The officials agreed and ruled no goal on the ice.
It was only after a lengthy video review that the NHL Situation Room in Toronto overturned the call and awarded the New York Islanders what would stand as the deciding goal in a 3-2 victory over the Sabres.
"For sure, to me it looked like a kicking motion but in the end, I can't say without the replay and all that," Luukkonen said afterward.
"I don't know how to explain it," Sabres coach Don Granato added. "I didn't get an explanation, so I don't have an explanation for it. I have not seen that happen, so it's obviously unfortunate."

The NHL Situation Room's official explanation was that the puck deflected off Fasching and into the net "in legal fashion."

The call came at a pivotal moment for the Sabres, who had fallen behind early in the third period but tied the game on a shot by Kyle Okposo less than three minutes prior to Fasching's goal.
Dylan Cozens also scored for the Sabres while Luukkonen made 36 saves. Buffalo tallied 24 shots on Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin.
Granato pointed to Okposo's goal - a shot from the point, with a heavy screen in front from Jordan Greenway - as an example of what he wanted to see more of from his team.
"The reluctance to shoot was a significant factor," he said. "And that reluctance to shoot, unfortunately we've seen that. We have not learned enough from it, unfortunately, and I would say that was another factor today.
"If you're unwilling to shoot a puck, it's going to be a long and hard night because you're not pulling anybody out of coverage or stressing anybody. When we did shoot, we got lots of pucks back and better opportunities."

How it happened

FIRST PERIOD

Luukkonen stopped Bo Horvat on a breakaway with 1:39 remaining to keep the game scoreless heading into the first intermission. Shots were 8-8.
SECOND PERIOD
Cozens won a loose puck in the neutral zone and split a pair of defenders as he burst over the blue line and buried his 25th goal to open the scoring 5:00 into the period.

The Islanders had a response, beginning when Cizikas parked in front of Luukkonen and buried a pass from behind the goal line with 7:22 remaining. New York went on to generate a 17-7 shot advantage in the period. Luukkonen made a pair of saves to anchor a successful penalty kill late.
THIRD PERIOD
Bailey and Okposo traded goals 3:08 apart to tie the score at 2-2. Bailey buried a rebound off a Cizikas tip; Okposo scored from long range with Jordan Greenway screening Sorokin.

Fasching put the Islanders back ahead with 12:23 remaining.
The Sabres pulled Luukkonen with 2:32 left and generated multiple chances, but were unable to tie things up.

What we learned

1. The Sabres fell to six points back of the Islanders with three games in hand and one more head-to-head matchup remaining. Elsewhere, Pittsburgh rallied from a four-goal deficit to beat Columbus 5-4 in overtime and the Panthers defeated Vegas 2-1.
| Team | GP | Points | P% | Reg. W | ROW | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | WC1 - New York Islanders | 66 | 74 | .561 | 29 | 33 | | WC2 - Pittsburgh Penguins | 63 | 73 | .579 | 24 | 31 | | Florida Panthers | 65 | 70 | .538 | 28 | 30 | | Ottawa Senators | 63 | 68 | .540 | 25 | 30 | | Buffalo Sabres | 63 | 68 | .540 | 24 | 31 | | Washington Capitals | 65 | 68 | .523 | 24 | 30 | | Detroit Red Wings | 63 | 65 | .516 | 22 | 26 |
2.The Sabres were without defensemen Mattias Samuelsson and Riley Stillman for the second straight game due to upper-body injuries. Both are considered day to day.
3.Granato reiterated the need for the Sabres' to have a shot mentality moving forward.
"Unfortunately, this is what gaining experience is all about," he said. "These are the hard lessons you learn and that's a big, big next step for us is to understand that this pattern of feeling this way after a game, what it's connected to is that unwillingness to shoot, go to the net, put pucks to the net."

Up next

The Sabres return home to host the Dallas Stars on Thursday. Tickets are available here.
Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. The puck drops at 7 on MSG and WGR 550.