Luukkonen makes 19 saves for his second consecutive shutout
Luukkonen makes 19 saves for his second consecutive shutout
Luukkonen's Shutout Streak
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen continued to excellent play with a 19-save shutout over the Blackhawks on Thursday. He is the first Sabres goaltender to post consecutive shutouts since Carter Hutton did at the beginning of the 2019-20 season. Luukkonen current’s shutout streak of 157:55 extends back to the second period of the 1-0 loss to Vancouver last Saturday and is the longest since Ryan Miller did not allow a goal in 161:35 in 2010.
Spreading Out The Directness
Head coach Don Granato has stressed that he wants players who play more direct and aggressive but has been unable to get that consistently from his forward compliment. What he has done in recent games is to place one player who plays that way on each line, shifting veteran winger Zemgus Girgensons to the second line with Casey Mittelstadt and Jack Quinn, and moving Jordan Greenway to the middle and placing him with team captain Kyle Okposo on the third line. This has resulted in a solid performance in a 1-0 loss to Vancouver and wins over Chicago and San Jose.
Erik Ouch
Defenseman Erik Johnson left the game in the third period after taking a heavy hit to the boards behind the net from Chicago’s Philipp Kurashev. Johnson did not return to the game and was not at practice on Friday. Granato said that the veteran blueliner was day-to-day with an upper-body injury and would be a game-time decision for the final game of the Sabres six-game homestand against Tampa Bay on Saturday.
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