Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen shoots an arrow at Jakub Dobes

Marc-Olivier Cook
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen shoots an arrow at Jakub Dobes
Credit: Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen didn't have the best game of his career last night.

Far from it, in fact.

The Buffalo Sabres' goaltender allowed five goals on 23 shots before being replaced by Alex Lyon at the start of the third period. Jakub Dobes had a shaky start, but at least he was able to redeem himself…

That said, in Luukkonen's eyes, the work Dobes did doesn't seem to be all that significant. Luukkonen said after the game that Dobes was “good”… but that the credit should really go to the defense in front of him.

Yeah. For a guy who just got blown out, maybe he could have put that a little differently… 

While Luukkonen chose to praise the Canadiens' defense, Rasmus Dahlin, on the other hand… took a completely different approach.

The Sabres captain instead mentioned that the Sabres gave up some bad goals, and clearly… one can assume that message was also aimed at his own defense. He didn't say it outright, but Dahlin probably would have liked a little more help from his goalie:

It looks like the Sabres have lost their spark.

Yesterday, the guys weren't interested in playing in the final minutes of the game. The faces were long on the Sabres' bench, and you can tell the players are frustrated when they say things like that to reporters.

Morale is low in the Sabres' locker room.

And in a way, that's good news for the Canadiens… who could send the Buffalo team on vacation as early as tomorrow night. If the Habs get off to a huge start and are able to score early, it could further crush the Sabres' confidence… and that would possibly be the perfect scenario to advance to the next round.

I'm eager to see how the Sabres will respond. But they need to stop pointing fingers at everyone if they want to stay alive… 


In a nutshell

– Great news.

– Interesting!

– I love it when the captain celebrates his goals.

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