Devon Levi's return to Rochester, Isak Rosen's return to NHL highlight a busy day on Sabres' roster
The demotion of Levi is a twofold move: The primary point is he needs playing time and his development is stunted by being an NHL backup when the Amerks can absolutely make him their immediate starter. The other side of it is that, frankly, he just hasn't looked like an NHL goalie enough of the...
The equipment bags and trunks were getting packed and there was all kinds of stuff shuffling in out of the Buffalo Sabres’ locker room in KeyBank Center on Monday.
You might say the scene was fitting, given what was going on with the roster, with lots of question marks as the team hit the skies for its three-game California trip that opens Wednesday night against the Kings in Los Angeles.
The biggest news came after reporters exited the room, when head coach Lindy Ruff provided an update on the team’s goaltending situation.
Starter Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who was dinged in practice on Nov. 10, got yanked after two periods the next day against Montreal and has sat out the two games since, is ready to go. His backup will be veteran James Reimer, who could get his first start with the Sabres on the weekend during back-to-back games in Anaheim and San Jose.
With the Sabres this season, goaltender Devon Levi is 2-5 in seven games with a 3.95 goals-against average and .870 save percentage. Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
And in a move that didn’t rate as a huge surprise, Ruff revealed that 22-year-old Devon Levi has been loaned to Rochester while the Sabres have recalled winger Isak Rosen from the Amerks.
The demotion of Levi is a twofold move: The primary point is he needs playing time and his development is stunted by being an NHL backup when the Amerks can absolutely make him their immediate starter. The other side of it is that, frankly, he just hasn’t looked like an NHL goalie enough of the time this season to merit staying.
“We’ve got to get him some games, get him playing,” Ruff said. “It will be the best thing for him. He needs to play. I think this is the first time in his career he’s dealt with, I think it was, one game in a month. That’s not easy on a goaltender. It’s not easy on a young goaltender, because you need to find some rhythm.”
Levi is 2-5 in seven games this season with a 3.95 goals-against average and .870 save percentage. He took the loss Saturday in Philadelphia, allowing four goals on 31 shots in Buffalo’s 5-2 defeat after making 24 saves in Thursday’s 4-3 overtime win over St. Louis. Prior to that run, Levi’s lone start in nearly a month was a shaky 4-3 loss Nov. 1 to the New York Islanders.
Ruff said his conversation to give Levi the news went well, and that Levi’s point was that he wanted to play even if that meant in Rochester. Levi had made a similar point to reporters Saturday in Philadelphia.
“He wants to play, for sure. He is a highly competitive kid,” Ruff said. “You just watch his practices, you watch pre-practice, you watch post-practice. He’s 100% go all the time.”
Levi had a strong run in Rochester last season, going 16-6-4, 2.42/.927, but the Sabres signed Luukkonen to a five-year contract in the offseason and he quickly claimed the No. 1 job coming out of training camp. While Luukkonen earned the bulk of the work, Levi struggled to develop consistency. He endured a six-goal game Oct. 17 in Columbus and has been torched for four goals in two other games.
More news at forward
Jordan Greenway (middle to lower body) had an MRI Monday and has been downgraded to week to week, so he will not make the trip. Alex Tuch has a minor ailment and sat out practice, with his status to be determined Tuesday.Tage Thompson (lower body) has missed the last two games and the team hopes he can play Wednesday. Thompson said Monday’s practice was quite a bit tougher on him than Saturday’s morning skate, which was what he wanted.
“That’s a good day. You want to be able to rest it and see where you’re at,” he said. “I felt pretty good today. I would say it’s another step in the right direction.”
All of the uncertainty necessitated the recall of Rosen, who is leading Rochester with 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 14 games. Jiri Kulich, who was recalled and played Saturday, will stay and go on the trip.
The trip
The Sabres have gone 2-1 four times in their last five trips to California. They haven’t swept it since the 2011-12 season and haven’t gone winless since an 0-2-1 record in 2009.“We look forward to it a lot,” said winger Jack Quinn. “I think we’ve always got such a close group and this year being the same, it’s nice to get on the road sometimes and spend a little more time with the guys. You can kind of rally around that a bit.”
The Kings, who posted a 3-1 win Oct. 10 in Buffalo’s home opener, are 5-1-1 at home this year and second in the Pacific Division. Anaheim and San Jose are tied for last.
Jokiharju returns
Ruff said defenseman Henri Jokiharju, a healthy scratch the last six games, will return to the lineup Wednesday. Connor Clifton was the odd man out at practice Monday. Ruff said he wants to see better work from Jokiharju on his puck touches and first pass out of the defensive zone.“Just try to be myself when I get back there and just do my own thing,” Jokiharju said. “I was surprised about it for sure. A big thing is I have to be harder in puck battles.”
