Harsh news about Finland’s NHL star
Buffalo Sabres’ Finnish goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen experienced an unfortunate setback in his team’s last preseason game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The match played on Saturday evening Finnish time ended with Pittsburgh winning 3–1.
Luukkonen had to leave the game early in the third period, just under four minutes into the period. The Finnish goalie was replaced in net by Colten Ellis.
Buffalo’s head coach Lindy Ruff stated that Luukkonen is suffering from some sort of lower body injury.
– We didn’t want to take any risks, Ruff commented in the Sabres’ statement.
There is no further information yet on the severity of Luukkonen’s injury. Ruff also couldn’t say whether the Finnish goalie would be fit to play in Buffalo’s NHL season opener.
The Sabres’ goaltending department is also dealing with injury concerns, as Alex Lyon was sidelined in the previous preseason game. Lyon, who is suffering from an upper body injury, is expected to be out of the lineup for at least a few days according to Ruff.
Luukkonen played 35 regular season games for Buffalo last season and recorded a save percentage of 91.0.
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