Buffalo Sabres Begin Season with Injury Concerns
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff anticipates the start of the season without his starting goaltender, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who suffered a lower-body injury during 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 mentioned that the 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.
Buffalo concludes its preseason schedule in Pittsburgh on Friday and begins the season by hosting the New York Rangers on Thursday.
The absence of Luukkonen will force the Sabres to turn to two free agent additions from the offseason: 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 training 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.
The Buffalo blue line is already affected, with Owen Power (undisclosed) and Mattias Samuelsson (upper body) missing practice this week. Ruff expects both to be available for the opening game.
