Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen's heroics help Sabres shut out Kings: Takeaways from a 1-0 win
LOS ANGELES – Enough time had passed that Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen could joke about the frantic finish to the Sabres’ character-building win against a perennial playoff team late Wednesday night.
Enough time had passed that Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen could joke about the frantic finish to the Sabres’ character-building win against a perennial playoff team late Wednesday night.
“Maybe we want to get it out of the zone next time,” Luukkonen cracked to reporters in Crypto.com Arena after his teammates weathered a 6-on-5 that lasted nearly 2:47 late in the third period of a 1-0 win over the Los Angeles Kings.
Luukkonen made 24 saves to earn his sixth career shutout, but he’s not the only one who deserves credit for frustrating the Kings.
Buffalo Sabres left wing Jason Zucker, right, celebrates his goal with right wing JJ Peterka, left, and center Dylan Cozens during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Los Angeles Kings
Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, in Los Angeles, Calif. Ryan Sun/Associated Press
Six Sabres blocked at least two shots. Dylan Cozens dropped to the ice twice to deny Quinton Byfield and Kevin Fiala while Los Angeles’ net was empty for an extra attacker late in the third period. Alex Tuch and Henri Jokiharju did the same before Adrian Kempe missed the net with a slap shot, sending the puck out of the boards and, finally, out of Buffalo’s zone.
Only a few seconds remained by the time the Kings collected the puck. The Sabres (9-9-1) have won five of their last seven games, and they’re 9-6-1 since beginning the season 0-3. The victory, their third on the road through 19 games, catapulted them into the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot, and the way they beat the Kings (10-7-3) was an important step for a team that’s still trying to find some consistency.
The Sabres were without Tage Thompson and Jordan Greenway, yet they showed they are able to play with enough discipline to win a low-scoring game.
“I think it means a lot to our team,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said after his players totaled 10 shots on goal between the second and third periods. “That’s part of the growth. You’ve got to get comfortable in a game like that where it’s tight. … I thought our compete on the puck was where it needed to be to win a hockey game and their compete was high, too. It was a hard game from start to finish for both teams.”
Jason Zucker’s goal 38 seconds into the third period was the difference. The 32-year-old winger tipped Rasmus Dahlin’s shot past Kings goalie David Rittich, giving Buffalo a power-play goal in a seventh consecutive game. The Sabres killed three penalties in the second period and their penalty kill went 5-for-5.
It wasn’t a busy night for Luukkonen. The Sabres’ No. 1 goalie faced only six shots in the first period and six in the second, but he made four saves against the Kings’ power play and, according to Natural Stat Trick, denied Los Angeles on its 11 high-danger scoring chances. His poise in the crease covered for his teammates when they had another disappointing stretch. Buffalo had only five shot attempts at 5-on-5 during the second period and only three shots on goal during that 20-minute stretch.
Luukkonen kept the score at 0-0 until Zucker’s goal, the 200th of his NHL career, gave the Sabres the lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Luukkonen’s effort was impressive for multiple reasons. He missed the previous two games with a lower-body injury and had not finished a game since a shootout win over the Calgary Flames on Nov. 9. Yet Luukkonen was as effective Wednesday night as he’s been in any game this season. He has a .939 save percentage and four wins in five starts since Nov. 5.
“I think that was really good for me, personally,” said Luukkonen. “Coming back from missing a couple games, I feel like the team played extremely well in front of me. They blocked shots and made it easier for me to have a shutout. It’s a team thing usually.”
The win provided the Sabres with a blueprint on how to win on the road against an opponent like the Kings and the patience needed to score a goal when they are without two key forwards, one of whom is their leading goal-scorer. Consistency is still the missing piece. They need to block shuts, play shutdown defense and win one-on-one puck battles every game instead of faltering like they did in losses to Philadelphia and Montreal last week.
Unlike recent seasons, the Sabres’ defensive effort, and Luukkonen’s spectacular goaltending, will give them a chance to win each night, even if their offense struggles to score like it did against the Kings.
“His size but then his ability to get post to post, flexibility, and make those big saves,” Sabres winger Beck Malenstyn said of Luukkonen. “That’s a huge thing for a goalie that stands out. When there are plays that should be made but they still manage to get those big saves that really energize a group. I think he makes a lot of those timely saves for us, and we have all the trust in the world in him back there.”
Here are other takeaways from the game:
1. Stepping up
Jiri Kulich played center in the NHL for the first time Wednesday and, though he went 1-for-8 in the faceoff dot, he didn’t commit any crucial mistakes in the defensive zone.The Sabres outshot the Kings 7-1 at 5-on-5 when Kulich’s line with Zucker and Jack Quinn was on the ice, according to Natural Stat Trick. Three of Buffalo’s four lines had at least 50% of the shot-attempt differential, which illustrates that each spent more time in the offensive zone than Los Angeles.
The Sabres are better equipped to play without one of their top forwards. They were 3-7-1 last season when Thompson was out of the lineup.
“I don’t think you can understate it; coming in here is never easy,” said Malenstyn. “They play a brand of hockey that can, realistically, lull you to sleep and then that skill can just show. You make a stupid turnover at the wrong time and they’re waiting on it and they can make you pay for it. ... That’s just a good road win, right? A 1-0, power-play goal to win it.”
2. Penalty-killing
Greenway’s absence caused Ruff to rely on different forwards to lead the Sabres’ penalty kill against the Kings.Ryan McLeod and Sam Lafferty were the first on the ice during the second period when Tuch was in the penalty box for slashing. Malenstyn and Zach Benson also received more shorthanded ice time as Buffalo adjusts to playing without Greenway, who is considered week to week with a middle-body injury that prevented him from coming on the trip.
Malenstyn left the game briefly after blocking a shot during a second-period penalty kill. He explained afterward that his left leg went numb because the puck hit a nerve behind his knee, but he returned to the game.
The Sabres’ penalty kill is 24-for-27 over their last seven games, though Luukkonen cleaned up some of their mistakes Wednesday.
3. ‘Not ideal’
Jokiharju didn’t have much to say about Ruff’s decision to scratch him for six consecutive games.“Probably not ideal, that’s for sure,” Jokiharju said following the morning skate Wednesday. “But, you know, it is what it is.”
Has transitioning to a different system and different coach created challenges for the defenseman?
“That’s been pretty fine,” he added. “I don’t think there’s any issues with that.”
It’s not the first time that Jokiharju’s sat. He was also a healthy scratch last season under former Sabres coach Don Granato. Jokiharju can be a steady option in the top four, but he has a habit of playing out of structure and his breakouts haven’t been effective enough.
Jokiharju was back in the lineup Wednesday and blocked two shots in 18:42 of ice time.
