Tampa, Fla. (WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres will play their final game of the 2023-24 season on Monday, knowing they didn’t even come close to living up to expectations.
This was supposed to be the season where the team broke its 12-year playoff drought, but instead, it’s now been extended to 13 years without a postseason appaerance.
Last season, the Sabres had 91 points in the Eastern Conference standings, but go into their last game in Tampa Bay against the Lightning this season with just 82 points.
Since being eliminated in Dallas last Tuesday against the Stars, the Sabres haven’t quit, going 1-0-1. Recently, they’ve lost 3-of-4 games, going 1-2-1.
Henri Jokiharju has four assists in his last three games, and has been one of the few bright spots this season for the Sabres.
Another bright spot for Buffalo has been the play of goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who has played seven-straight games and hasn’t given up more than three goals in any of them. Luukkonen has established himself as a No. 1 goalie this season, and will finish with 54 games played, unless he's needed on Monday in a relief appearance.
This year, Luukkonen went 27-22-4 with a 2.57 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage. Despite a 3-2 overtime loss to the Panthers on Saturday in Florida, Luukkonen stopped 39-of-42 shots faced.
Eric Comrie will get the start in goal on Monday night. He’s 1-7-0 this season with a 3.91 goals-against average and an .864 save percentage. Comrie last played back on March 7 in Nashville, giving up four goals on 24 shots-against the Predators.
Jack Quinn has four goals in his last five games.
The Sabres are 4-1-1 in their last six games against the Lightning.
In October, Buffalo secured its first win of the season with a 3-2 overtime win on home ice. The Sabres also beat the Lightning back on Feb. 29 in Tampa Bay in overtime, 3-2. Tampa Bay did manage to earn a 3-1 win in Buffalo back on Jan. 20.
Rasmus Dahlin had four points in the three games played against the Lightning this season.
Tampa Bay is locked into the No. 1 Wild Card position in the Eastern Conference, and have lost their last two games and three of their last four. Tampa Bay is 13th in the NHL with a points percentage of .600.
Nikita Kucherov has had the season of his life, leading the NHL with 141 points. He is also second in the league with 98 assists. He also has 43 goals to his name this year.
However, Kucherov only has one assist in three games this season against the Sabres.
Victor Hedman is tied for eighth in the NHL this season with 63 assists.
Brayden Point is eighth in NHL goal scoring with 45 this year. Meanwhile, captain Steven Stamkos has 39 goals.
The Lightning still has the NHL’s best power play at 28.9%.
Andrei Vasilevskiy has given up 11 goals in his last three starts. He’s 30-19-2 this season with a 2.87 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage.
Join the Bulldog for pregame on WGR starting at 6 p.m. ET when you’ll hear from Don Granato, Connor Clifton and Comrie.
