Las Vegas, Nev. (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Sabres wrapped up their three-game Western road trip on Monday night when they paid a visit to T-Mobile Arena to play the Vegas Golden Knights.
The first period was uneventful for either side, but Vegas controlled the majority of play, outshooting the Sabres, 10-6.
The second period was much busier on the goal front, as Buffalo netted three goals on just seven shots. Jeff Skinner, Tage Thompson, and Lawrence Pilut all scored to give the Sabres a 3-0 going into the third period.
While he played an amazing game overall, Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stole the show in the third period. Vegas did get two goals back when Chandler Stephenson and Reilly Smith each scored, but the young netminder stood on his head down the stretch to seal the win.
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It wasn't the most dominating win for the team, but the Sabres won their fourth game in-a-row thanks to stellar goaltending.
Here are this game's three observations:
1.) Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Buffalo has had two goalies on a hot streak for a number of games up to this point, but Luukkonen elevated himself to another level on Monday night. He stopped 41-of-43 shots faced, making some incredible saves along the way, including a penalty shot late in the third period.
Luukkonen was able to keep one of the more potent offenses in the NHL at bay for almost the entire game, surrendering his first goal early on in the third period.
Had it not been for his amazing play in the net, this game could've gone a completely different direction.
Every so often, goaltenders can steal games for you, and this was certainly one of those games. The win gives Luukkonen four wins in his last five starts, and a record of 5-3-1 on the season.
2.) Strong penalty kill
The Sabres were penalized a total of 11 times on this road trip and stood tall, only surrendering one goal during the three-game span.
In Monday's contest against Vegas alone, the team was perfect, stopping all three shorthanded situations.
Vegas has one of the top-10 power play units in the league at an impressive 25%. With the amount of offensive weapons on their team, it was important that the Sabres tightened things up while a man down, and they did just that.
While it's great to have a good penalty kill like this, it's not great to consistently be shorthanded like this. Buffalo really needs to improve their discipline moving forward.
3.) A win is a win
In a long 82-game season, not every win is going to be a dominating, flashy win to write home about. This was one of those games.
The Sabres were outshot by the Golden Knights a whopping 43-18. As stated before, Luukkonen was a huge factor in this game.
The team played great in the second period, but overall looked sluggish, and not quite ready for the pressure at the end by Vegas.
A win is still a win, though, as the team will get a few days off to re-group before another game on Friday. These few days off should be good for the team to rest and re-charge, and prepare for the next stretch of games ahead.
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The Sabres are back in action on Friday as they host the Tampa Bay Lightning at KeyBank Center in Downtown Buffalo. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. EST with pregame coverage starting at 6 p.m. EST with Schopp and the Bulldog on the radio home of the Sabres - WGR Sports Radio 550.
