Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - I assumed both Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Devon Levi would play in goal for the Buffalo Sabres this weekend, but I didn’t think Levi would get the first game against the New York Islanders.
Friday will be Levi's first game started for Buffalo since Oct. 17 in Columbus against the Blue Jackets. Levi had a very tough night, surrendering six goals on just 25 shots faced.
In his other two starts, Levi played very well, allowing just five goals on 62 shots, which is an excellent .919 save percentage.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff wouldn’t commit to both goalies playing in this back-to-back scenario.
"I’d say it’s a good possibility, yes," Ruff said, while leaving the door open to Levi having a banner night and maybe earning a second-straight start on Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings.
One thing that’s not going to work is Levi only getting three starts to Luukkonen’s 10. He’s 22-years-old, and must get time in the net.
So why is it Levi against the Islanders?
"I look at his practices and he put [the Columbus game] away real quick," Ruff explained. "I don’t know if you can totally lump that game on him. We know he’s a good goaltender. We know we’re going to need him. We know our schedule starts getting heavy, so the plan is to still keep trying to use both. But at the same time, if somebody really gets on a tear, they’ll play."
Defensively, Buffalo is 25th in the NHL with a goals-against average of 3.60. That's not even close to good enough. They have trouble getting the big save at the big time, and their penalty kill is 23rd at 74.2%.
If you watch the Sabres play, defensively, they kill a lot of plays. Their biggest problem is they defend well, but the next thing you know, someone complicates what should be an easy play and it’s in the back of the net. Defensively, they make some really bad decisions at the wrong time.
"We’ve been prone to the big mistake. We’re defending well, but we’ll make a big mistake and it's hurt us," Ruff said.
"We’ve gone games where we leave the net front on the power play goal (Sam Reinhart), leaving the middle of the ice on the odd number rush goal (Carter Verhaeghe). There’s big mistakes that have hurt us, so we’ve been a lot better at preventing, but those type of situations are down. But I still think we can be even better."
Despite the loss to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday, the Sabres are still 4-2-1 in their last seven games. They’re still one point out of fourth place in the Atlantic Division, but they are also tied for last place with three other teams.
Buffalo is two points out of the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Tage Thompson is working on a seven-game point streak, where he has six goals and five assists for 11 points. Thompson has seven goals overall, which is ninth in the NHL.
Jason Zucker has points in 6-out-of-7 games.
Owen Power is on a five-game point streak, notching seven points.
JJ Peterka has points in 5-out-of-6 games, scoring four goals and three assists for seven points.
Dylan Cozens is likely to start the game moving to right wing for the first time in about three years. He’s slated to play with Ryan McLeod and Jordan Greenway. He leads the team in shots on goal, but hasn't scored a goal yet.
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The Islanders have lost three-straight games, and 4-out-of-5 games. They scored one goal in their last two games, and have been shut out in four of their 10 games this season.
Overall, the Islanders are dead last in NHL goal scoring, averaging just 2.10 goals per-game.
The Islanders have a key injury, as forward Mat Barzal has been sent back to Long Island due to an upper-body injury. Anthony Duclair has missed five games with a lower-body injury.
New York’s leading scorer is Kyle Palmieri, who has four goals and three assists for seven points.
Ilya Sorokin certainly hasn’t been the problem, as he has a goals-against average of 1.80 and save percentage of .932 in five games.
Semyon Varlamov has been a mess in some of his five games, but not in the Islanders' last game. He made 24 saves on 25 shots faced in a 2-0 loss to the Blue Jackets.
Tune in during "Schopp and the Bulldog" for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 6 p.m. ET when you’ll hear from Ruff, Cozens and Rasmus Dahlin.