Luukkonen, Sabres goalie, out with injury
Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff anticipates starting the season without his starting goaltender, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who suffered a lower-body injury during his preseason debut.
Ruff reported that Luukkonen will be out of action week to week, without revealing the exact nature of the injury on Friday. The coach only mentioned that this injury is different from the lower-body issue that kept the 26-year-old out at the start of training camp two weeks ago.
The most recent injury occurred on Wednesday, when Luukkonen was unable to return after the first period in the 5-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Sabres will finish their preseason schedule in Pittsburgh on Friday and will begin the season by hosting the New York Rangers on Thursday.
Luukkonen’s absence will force the Sabres to turn to two free agent additions from the offseason: Alex Lyon, who was projected to be the backup, and Alexandar Georgiev. Buffalo signed Georgiev last month as a precaution after Luukkonen suffered his initial injury.
The Sabres are also expected to be without defenseman Michael Kesselring, who was also listed as week-to-week after aggravating an undisclosed injury on Wednesday.
Buffalo’s defense is already weakened, with Owen Power (undisclosed) and Mattias Samuelsson (upper body) absent from practice this week. Ruff expects both to be available for the start of the season.
