Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - After Jan. 1 last year, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was one of the most used goalies in the NHL, and he thrived. Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy played 37 games in that time, and Luukkonen was next with 36 games played.
The Sabres netminder's numbers were much better than Vasilevskiy with a 2.31 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage.
The more the 25-year-old played, the better he got.
This season hasn’t worked out that way, though. In 35 games, he’s 15-15-4 with a 2.99 goals-against average and an .897 save percentage.
Last season after Jan. 1, with one day's rest, Luukkonen had a .922 save percentage. This season, that has declined drastically, as he has an .869 save percentage with one day's rest. With two-days rest, it goes up to .918.
In his last six starts, Luukkonen has played a great game, followed by an average or below average game. He sat on Jan. 20 in Seattle against the Kraken, and then sat again on Jan. 25 in Edmonton against the Oilers. If had he played, it would’ve been on one day's rest.
Before that, he had played in 10-of-11 games and 12-of-14.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff says one thing went into the decision to sit him against the Oilers.
"Part of it was three games in less than five days. That’s a big ask when you’re staring at a 2:00 game, and you had a game earlier in the week that was a 7:00. So the reason we took him out was just for that fact alone," explained Ruff on Monday.
I also wondered if he was also letting Luukkonen know that he must be better.
"As a group, we’re taking the approach that we all need to be better, including goaltending," Ruff replied.
Since the numbers this season are so much different, there’s a case to be made that this year, he’s not handling the load as well and is getting tired. Ruff has looked into that, and doesn’t think it’s a factor.
"You always look at what he faces, and you always get into a conversation about how a goaltender’s feeling, whether it’s fatigue or how much they’re playing. We’re well aware of one day rest and two days rest and three days rest, and what those numbers look like," Ruff explained.
"Sometimes those numbers can be skewed by how the team plays, but we always talk about 'Upie' and how much he’s played, and when is the right time to give him a rest. Does one day mean that much, or does two days mean that much to him? And the answer has always been he feels great, it’s not that he feels tired. So some of the ups and downs, I don’t think we can put it on fatigue."
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Luukkonen didn't at all shy away from talking about it.
"I’d say there’s been a lot of up-and-down moments, but I would say always the scores don’t tell the whole picture," said Luukkonen following Monday's practice. "I feel like there’s games where we give a lot of shots-against, and then the start may look better than it actually is. I agree with the point that there are a lot of starts that I need to be better on, but I don’t know what the exact problem is. I feel like there have been times where I have a lot of shots and it’s been better, and then there’s been less shots where I didn’t have the best possible game."
Luukkonen and goalie coach Mike Bales are constantly communicating and going over things, and the big goaltender says they’ve talked about why his numbers on one day's rest have gone down a lot.
"He points out some of the stuff where it’s not necessarily how I’m making the saves. Here’s some things during the game which lead to those goals-against, and we’ve been working on that. I feel like we’ve gotten most of it away from the game," Luukkonen explained.
"I don’t look at the numbers too much, but there’s still other stuff we need to clear up."
For a while this season, Luukkonen thrived on getting almost all the work, just like he did last year. He says as far as the way he feels, he’s not wearing down.
"I feel like I play better that way, and as I’ve said, I want to be part of the solution here," Luukkonen said. "I still need to be better to help the team win, but I feel like every goalie wants to play as much as they can."
Ruff said Monday that winger Jordan Greenway is still skating on his own, but feels he’ll be practicing with the team very soon.
While the Sabres don’t need a roster spot for Greenway just yet, general manager Kevyn Adams might be preparing for that by waiving Nic Aube-Kubel.
Aube-Kubel was signed in the offseason to try to make the Sabres harder to play against. However, he’s had a few injuries, and it hasn’t worked out. In 19 games, Aube-Kubel has one goal and one assist for two points.
Last year, in addition to his 60 games with the Washington Capitals, he played 11 in the AHL with the Hershey Bears.
In his nine NHL games this season, Tyson Kozak seems like the player they hoped to get in Aube-Kubel. Both in Buffalo and in Rochester, Kozak has shown he’ll do anything to win a hockey game. He’s a willing shot blocker, he’s tough in battles, and he is always around the net.
They could recall Kozak to fill the roster spot until Greenway gets back.