Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen keeps things tight and Sabres find their game for sixth straight win
With one game left before the Christmas break, Tuesday in Ottawa, this point can legitimately be made: The Sabres (17-14-4) are in the playoff race.
It's been a long time since the Buffalo Sabres played the kind of mature, winning hockey we saw Sunday night in Prudential Center.
They had a bad first period on the second half of a back-to-back, and only the work of goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen kept them in range.
But they gathered themselves during the intermission, committed to hounding pucks all over the ice and the results were obvious. The Sabres gave up just 15 shots on goal over the final two periods and got the goals they needed for a 3-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils.
Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 26 saves in Sunday's win at New Jersey.
Joed Viera, Buffalo News
That's six wins in a row for Buffalo for the first time since Dec. 13-31, 2022, and it's the longest current winning streak in the NHL. It's four in a row on the road after starting the season with just two wins in the first 13 games away from KeyBank Center. It's 3-0 under new general manager Jarmo Kekalainen.
And with one game left before the Christmas break, Tuesday in Ottawa, this point can legitimately be made: The Sabres (17-14-4) are in the playoff race. They wake up Monday just three points behind the tied triumvirate of Philadelphia, Boston, and New Jersey that currently shares the East's two wild-card slots.
"We know when we're feeling it and what kind of game we can play," said winger Peyton Krebs, whose first goal of the season was the clinching empty-netter with 2:01 left. "In the second period, we started doing the right things, getting pucks behind them, playing fast to our identity."
Josh Norris and Zach Benson scored for the Sabres in the second, with Benson's game-winner a nifty look-away on a 2-on-1 with Jack Quinn that burned Devils goalie Jake Allen.
"(Quinn) was opening up and creating a threat," Benson said. "I thought maybe I could fool the goalie there. Our belief is super-high. It's really high. We know the skill we have in this room."
It took 20 minutes for that skill to come through. Luukkonen − who was 0-4-1 this year on the road − made 11 saves in the first period, and several were top-flight chances. The best was a dive to his left to stymie Arseny Gritsyuk on a 2-on-1.
"That's one of those periods where the game personally for me can go kind of two ways," Luukkonen said. "That's a big one for me to get it going the right way, make the saves we need as a team."
"He was fantastic tonight for sure," said coach Lindy Ruff. "He kept us in there, and that's what you need from your goalie. He did a great job, made a couple highlight-reel saves that kept them at one and allowed us to play the second period we played."
Alex Lyon won the first five games in this streak, and Luukkonen had not played since the Dec. 8 loss in Calgary. He was ready this time.
"We've had unbelievable goaltending," Benson said of the winning streak. "When we make mistakes, how many Grade As did 'Upie' save tonight? You get those from your goalie, it just raises the bench, and we want to go out there and play for him."
Luukkonen's play allowed the Sabres to regroup, and they were clearly the better team for the final 40 minutes.
"We had to hit a new level," Ruff said. "We weren't supporting the puck enough. We weren't winning enough foot races. I thought the guys really dug in."
Welcome back I
The game marked Ruff's return to the Prudential Center, where he coached the Devils from the start of the 2021 Covid season until he was fired on March 4, 2024. Ruff was 128-125-28 with the Devils, highlighted by his 52-win, 112-point campaign in 2022-23.The Sabres did not play here last season because their only road game against the Devils was staged on the season's opening weekend in Prague as part of the NHL Global Series.
The Devils made a hurried introduction of Ruff on the PA system and the Jumbotron during a first-period faceoff. The former coach was mostly booed by the crowd.
Welcome Back II
New Jersey star Jack Hughes returned to the lineup after missing 18 games due to a hand injury suffered in an accident during a team dinner Nov. 15 in Chicago."We know we're going to have to defend one heck of a player," Ruff said. "I've obviously got a lot of respect for Jack and I know it was a disappointing injury. He's one of the best skaters in the game, has some of the best lateral movement. We can't let him get away from us."
Those words proved prophetic as Hughes opened the scoring at 8:51 of the first period with a laser of a wrist shot from the left circle after defenseman Michael Kesselring backed away from the New Jersey forward.
Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin moves the puck during Saturday's victory over the Islanders at KeyBank Center.
Joed Viera, Buffalo News
Numbers games
- Lyon has made 134 saves on 145 shots in his last six appearances for a .924 save percentage.
- Rasmus Dahlin's assist on the Norris goal gave him 12 points (3-9) in the last 10 games.
- The Devils entered the game 14-0-0 when leading after two periods, one of eight perfect teams in the NHL in that category. The Sabres improved to 13-1-0 in those spots.