BUFFALO, N.Y. – Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff anticipates the start of the season without his starting goaltender, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, due to a lower-body injury.
Ruff reported that Luukkonen will be out for several weeks, without revealing details about the nature of the injury. The coach clarified that this injury is different from the one that kept him out at the beginning of training camp two weeks ago.
The recent injury occurred on Wednesday, during the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, where Luukkonen was unable to return after the first period, in a match that ended with a score of 5-3 in favor of the Penguins.
The Sabres will finish their preseason on Friday against Pittsburgh and will begin the regular season on Thursday, hosting the New York Rangers.
The absence of Luukkonen will force the Sabres to rely on the new additions of the offseason, Alex Lyon, who was expected to be the backup, and Alexandar Georgiev. Buffalo signed Georgiev last month as a precautionary measure after Luukkonen suffered his first injury before the start of training camp.
In addition, the Sabres are expected to be without defenseman Michael Kesselring, who was also listed as a weekly absence after aggravating an unspecified injury on Wednesday.
Buffalo’s defensive line is already affected, with Owen Power (undisclosed injury) and Mattias Samuelsson (upper body) absent from training this week. Ruff expects both players to be available for the opening game.
