BUFFALO, N.Y. – Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff anticipates the start of the season without his starting goaltender, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
Luukkonen suffered a lower-body injury in his preseason debut.
Ruff indicated that Luukkonen will be out “week to week”, without revealing the exact nature of the injury on Friday. The coach only confirmed that the injury is different from the lower body issue that kept him 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.
Buffalo will finish its preseason schedule in Pittsburgh on Friday and will begin the season by hosting the New York Rangers on Thursday.
The absence of Luukkonen will force the Sabres to turn to offseason additions, Alex Lyon, who was projected as a backup, and Alexandar Georgiev.
Buffalo signed Georgiev last month as a precaution after Luukkonen suffered his initial injury in the weeks leading up to camp.
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 affected, with Owen Power (undisclosed injury) and Mattias Samuelsson (upper body) absent from practice this week. Ruff expects both to be available for the start of the season.
