Luukkonen Larceny In Win Over Blues

Sabres goalie stops 35 in third straight victory

To say the Buffalo Sabres have been streaky this season would be an understatement. The club that started the season 1-4-1, won three in a row, lost three in a row, went 7-2 in November before losing 13 straight, won their third straight on Sunday in St. Louis due mostly to some opportunistic offense and the goaltending of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

The Sabres were outshot 37-16 in the 4-2 victory on Sunday afternoon but took a 2-0 first-period lead on goals from Peyton Krebs and Tage Thompson. St. Louis replied late in the first and tied the game early in the third, but Buffalo took the lead for good midway through the third on Jason Zucker’s power play tally and got some insurance from rookie Jiri Kulich.

“We were kind of on our heels there, honestly for most of the game,” Zucker said after the game. “(Luukkonen) was incredible, I thought we did enough to keep them to the outside (and) limit some of their Grade A chances.”

The club has scored 17 goals in their three wins (as many as they scored in their previous seven losses) and allowed only five, but in spite of their turnaround, the ramifications of their long losing skid are only being felt now, when they are having some success. Buffalo has 32 points (14-19-4), but even with three wins in a row, they have not moved out of last place in the Eastern Conference and have only narrowed the gap to eight points between them and the final wildcard spot, but nearly all of the teams between them and Ottawa have games in hand.

The club practiced in Texas on Monday in preparation for their final game in 2024, which will be against the Dallas Stars on New Year’s Eve.