“I showed him my card and I said, ‘I’m taking you off as the second penalty killer – I’m bumping you to the first power play,'” joked coach Lindy Ruff.
From there, the Sabres held onto their multi-goal lead and secured a 4-1 victory.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen earned his third win of the season and stood strong against the shot-happy Hurricanes, making 13 saves in the third period and 29 in the game. He didn’t make many highlight-reel stops, but that’s because he didn’t need to; Buffalo blocked 22 shots (three shy of its season high), delivered 27 hits and effectively kept Carolina bodies away from Luukkonen’s crease for much of the game.
“They gave me a chance to take the initial shot, and they were boxing out really well, especially our D-men,” Luukkonen said. “Our forwards made some blocks, and our defense was really, really solid today.”
“We kind of let them hang around (the game), but I thought when we gave up some good looks – and they’re a good team – he made the save that we needed,” Ruff added.