(WGR 550) – It’s a shame that Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen had five goals tacked onto his record on Thursday, because he absolutely stood on his head to keep the Buffalo Sabres in a game with the Boston Bruins.
This game was 3-0 in the third period, and then head coach Don Granato pulled the goalie to allow David Pastrnak to score an empty net goal with 5:16 left in regulation. It’s not what I would’ve done, but that’s not the point here.
In the last five minutes, the Sabres got rattled. They didn’t play until the end, and they just hung their young goalie out to dry.
Getting back to when this was actually a game, the first period was even, as both Luukkonen and Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman were called upon to make great saves.
Victor Olofsson and JJ Peterka both had golden opportunities going in alone on Swayman, but the Bruins goaltender stopped them both.
Luukkonen was just as good as the second period was starting. He made the save of the year coming across to stop Pastrnak on a one-timer laser from the circle. Not only did he rob one of the best goal scorers in the National Hockey League, he stopped the rebound from Pavel Zacha.
Right after those circus saves, he stopped back-to-back shots from close in to keep it 0-0. When Kyle Okposo went to the penalty box, Luukkonen was their best penalty killer, making big saves on Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand from the slot.
Buffalo got one more great opportunity when Peterka set up Olofsson in the right circle, but Swayman was there to make the save. Olofsson has now gone 12 games without a goal.
It was then when Pastrnak cut in from the left and Luukkonen came out to make the save with his pad. The Sabres goaltender was called for tripping, and it was a very bad call that changed the game. Luukkonen was making a save on the play, not reaching his stick or pad out to trip a player.
Dmitry Orlov took advantage of the 4-on-3 power play, ripping a one-timer from the right circle to open the scoring at the 12:01 mark.
Buffalo reacted poorly to the goal and just 1:26 later, Jakub Lauko was left all alone for an easy rebound, and the team that set the record for the fastest to reach 100 points in a season had a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes.
After Luukkonen opened the third robbing A.J. Greer in front, Buffalo got a power play and that was their chance. It was a pretty quiet power play, and then Zacha put it away at the 8:35 mark.
I hate to say this, but the best defensive team in the league played the second-best offensive team in the league, and the best defensive team easily prevailed. To be fair, the Sabres are without two of their top-three scorers in Alex Tuch and Rasmus Dahlin.
Now, make no mistake, the Bruins are no slouch offensively, as they came into the game right behind the Sabres. Boston has now won nine-straight games.
Riley Stillman made his Sabres debut on Thursday and was on the ice for the Sabres' one goal from Casey Mittelstadt. He was on the ice for three goals-against, though. The 24-year-old had five hits in the first period and six for the game. The newest Sabres defenseman played a total of 18:24 of ice time.
Friday is Trade Deadline Day in the NHL. Teams have until 3 p.m. EST to make deals, but honestly, I have never seen anything like this trade deadline.
Almost every big name has been traded in the past week. Big names, small names, I've just never seen so many trades made before deadline day.
I talked with scouts, general managers and others on Tuesday who have spent a lot more time in this league than I have, and nobody can really pin a reason as to why.
I will be down at the arena all day Friday and, of course, we’ll hear from general manager Kevyn Adams between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. EST.
Related
