Rookie goaltender won two games after being recalled during Western road swing
The Buffalo Sabres bounced back from one of their more disappointing efforts of the season against Ottawa with a 5-2 comeback win over the New Jersey Devils on Friday. Tage Thompson was the scoring star of the evening with a four-goal effort. Devon Levi made his presence felt after a couple of early odd goals, making 28 saves in his second victory since being recalled in could be the rookie goaltender’s last NHL start of the season.
Levi was recalled by the Sabres at the start of their Western road swing on March 16 with two back-to-backs on their schedule. Buffalo at that point was still within range of a playoff spot and opted to play the 22-year-old after his excellent play in AHL Rochester rather than going with backup Eric Comrie, who has started just twice since the All-Star break. With eight games remaining on their schedule and no back-to-backs left, the Sabres will likely go with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen the rest of the way, or until they are mathematically eliminated from the postseason.
The demotion and consistent playing time in Rochester has paid off for Levi, with an 11-5-3 record, 2.52 GAA and .927 save percentage in 19 games.
"It's been a great experience (in Rochester). I feel like going into those important games and having everyone's trust to just go out and play, there's no better feeling," Levi said earlier in the week. "Everyone wants to make it to the next level, but everyone wants to see each other succeed....just to be able to play consistently was also unbelievable. I can't use better words to describe my experience in Rochester.”
The Amerks are in a tight playoff race (currently third in the AHL’s North Division) with a 32-22-9 record (73 points) and nine games remaining. Rochester making a long playoff run with Levi and other young prospects getting postseason experience is important for the Sabres long-term development, so it is likely that he will be sent back to play the majority of their remaining regular season games in preparation for playing against Cleveland or Syracuse in the first round in late April.
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