Luukkonen makes 26 saves as Sabres fall to Detroit in preseason contest

The Buffalo Sabres continued their preseason campaign with a stop in Detroit on Thursday.
They finished the game with 32 shots on goal, but came up short in a 6-2 preseason loss to the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen played the full 60 for Buffalo, stopping 26 of the 31 shots he faced.
Rasmus Asplund and Arttu Ruotsalainen scored for the Sabres. Asplund (1+1) and Dylan Cozens (0+2) finished with multi-point efforts.

"It was the first game for a lot of us on the team today and you're just trying to work yourself into game shape," Asplund said. "The timing and everything like that is just a little bit off here in the beginning of the season. You're just trying to find your timing. I think all of us got better towards the end there."

Robby Fabbri scored twice for Detroit while Lucas Raymond, Troy Stecher, Luke Witkowski and Jonathon Martin also tallied. Piu Suter racked up three assists. Alex Nedeljkovic made 17 saves on 19 shots in the first 26 minutes of the game and Victor Brattstrom was perfect in relied, making 13 saves.
"It was a fast-paced game. The other night, the first game, felt like a preseason game," Sabres head coach Granato said. "This felt a lot more like a regular-season game from the standpoint of pace, intensity, confined time and space.
"The pressure they had was great and great for us. Just reviewing it from the bench and some that I saw between periods, it was a good challenge for us."

Luukkonen keeps Buffalo in it early

Luukkonen was busy in the first period. Buffalo was outshot 18-9 in the opening period and Luukkonen stopped all 18 shots he faced.
His best save came just before time expired in the first when he stretched from his right to his left to stop Robert Fabbri on a one-time opportunity. The clutch stop preserved Buffalo's 1-0 lead heading into the second period:

"He bought us time. He was sharp, exceptional and he fought all the way through the game, which is awesome," Granato said. "But I was impressed not only with his first period, but his battle level, his compete level, all the way through.
"After the first, we were able to look at a few things and give our guys a little different focus, which didn't necessarily help on the scoreboard, but there were things we were able to tweak a little bit. He helped us get through that period."
Luukkonen, a second-round pick in 2017, made his NHL debut last year, going 1-3-0 with a 3.88 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage in four starts. The 22-year-old netminder was the OHL's Player of the Year in 2018-19 and an ECHL All-Star in 2019-20.

Asplund opens the scoring

Buffalo took a 1-0 lead on Asplund's goal with 1:29 remaining in the opening period.
Skating down the right wing from center ice, he used defenseman Dan Renouf as a screen and wristed a low shot from the top of the right faceoff circle on net. The shot beat Nedeljkovic five hole.
Cozens and Robert Hagg collected the assists.

Buffalo unable to hold back Red Wings rally

Fabbri got his revenge early in the second period, potting a rebound in front of the net at the 2:06 into the middle frame.
That goal set up three quick tallies for Detroit in a span of 3:12.
Raymond scored just 23 seconds later, cutting into the slot and shooting the puck through traffic to beat Luukkonen between the legs.
Then at the 5:18 mark, Stecher ripped one from the top of the left faceoff circle toward a commotion at the top of the crease. The puck found its way past Luukkonen to put Detroit up 3-1.

Ruotsalainen scores again, Cozens makes progress

Ruotsalainen scored on the power play with 8:08 left in the second to cut the lead to one for his second marker of the preseason.
Moments after being denied on a one-time opportunity in front of the net, he picked up a loose puck in the slot and threw a shot toward the goal to beat Nedeljkovic. Ruotsalainen also scored Tuesday in Buffalo's preseason opener.
Cozens added his second assist of the night with the primary and Asplund was credited with a helper as well.
Cozens, who made his preseason debut on Tuesday, finished Thursday's game with three shots on goal and six total attempts. He skated 15:54 on a line with Asplund and Tage Thompson.
"He played more direct," Granato said. "More straight-line net focus than the lateral and peripheral. He played with another level of determination tonight and you could see that."
Brattstrom replaced Nedeljkovic in net after the goal.
The Red Wings regained their two-goal advantage with 2:59 remaining in the second when Luke Witkowski scored off a faceoff.
Detroit outshot Buffalo 27-24 after two periods. Fabbri scored his second of the night when he netted an empty netter with 2:18 left. Jonathon Martin made it 6-2 with 1:27 left.

Up next

The Sabres will complete their back-to-back set of games Friday night for their first preseason home game of the year. They'll take on the Pittsburgh Penguins at KeyBank Center as the coaching staff continues to get the club ready for opening night.
"I evaluate everyone's compete level," Granato said. "I know they're not in midseason form and there's no way they can replicate what they're going through right now (in the offseason), any of these guys on either team.
"To get to feeling good about their timing, their rhythm, their vision, and put the whole package together, you have to compete. The guys that compete harder typically get to that point faster and that's what we needed to see. That's unequivocally what we need to see each night here as we hope to progress."
Tickets for Friday's game are on sale now. The game will also be streamed live on Sabres.com within the local broadcast market.