{"id":546084,"date":"2026-04-07T19:15:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T19:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/546084\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T19:15:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T19:15:14","slug":"ukko-pekka-luukkonen-reclaimed-his-throne-as-sabres-starting-goalie-for-the-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/546084\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen reclaimed his throne as Sabres’ starting goalie for the playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well, it seems like we are going to have to keep spelling his name out: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.<\/p>\n

The Buffalo Sabres finally have a goalie that has emerged as the starter heading into the playoffs. It is his play on the ice in recent weeks that has led to the important role.<\/p>\n

Luukkonen has been on a hot streak as of late and now seems primed to be the No. 1 netminder as the Sabres enter the playoffs. A few weeks ago, it looked like UPL may have been on the outside looking in once the postseason got underway.<\/p>\n

Alex Lyon had a steady campaign this year and was ready for at least a shared net in the playoffs<\/a>, but his recent struggles open the door for Luukkonen to seize the job.<\/p>\n

The Finnish goaltender has gone 5-1-1 over his last seven starts with a .929 save percentage. He was particularly impressive in a 32-save win over the Seattle Kraken on March 28.<\/p>\n

This is compared to a 0-2-1 record with a .772 save percentage for Lyon in his last three appearances between the pipes. Lyon was primed and ready to be the starter, but things have changed.<\/p>\n

So, head coach Lindy Ruff may decide they have to go with the hot hand. That does not appear to be Lyon. <\/p>\n

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was named the starter in a pivotal win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday<\/p>\n

The drive towards the Stanley Cup has as much more to do the momentum in March and April than it has to do with the months of January and February. For the Sabres, they have to look at the hot hand at goalie and Luukkonen has played better than Lyon. <\/p>\n

UPL showed he’s ready for the challenges on the horizon by stopping 23 of 25 shots by the Atlantic Division rival Lightning in a crucial win on Monday night<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The margin of error in the playoffs can be so small that whoever can prove they can perform in vital moments deserves the starting spot.<\/p>\n

Will UPL start the whole first round or could Alex Lyon get a start?<\/p>\n

Luukkonen is currently healthy, but if the opening series goes seven full games, will he need a break? Will he be able to stay consistent if they were need to him for a pivotal seventh game, or the next series? Will the coaching staff trust Lyon given his recent poor play?<\/p>\n

These will be interesting questions, but ones that the organization and fans have been looking to be answered for 14 years. <\/p>\n

As the playoffs begin, and the Sabres start their Stanley Cup push, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen could become a household name around the NHL, just like predecessors Ryan Miller and Dominik Ha\u0161ek.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Well, it seems like we are going to have to keep spelling his name out: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":546085,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5100],"tags":[1107,229,5133,5,4,1108],"class_list":{"0":"post-546084","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-buffalo-sabres","8":"tag-buffalo","9":"tag-buffalo-sabres","10":"tag-buffalosabres","11":"tag-hockey","12":"tag-nhl","13":"tag-sabres"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116365029832122788","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546084\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}