{"id":184529,"date":"2025-10-02T07:49:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T07:49:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/184529\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T07:49:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T07:49:07","slug":"sabres-ukko-pekka-luukkonen-leaves-game-with-lower-body-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/184529\/","title":{"rendered":"Sabres\u2019 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen leaves game with lower-body injury"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Buffalo Sabres<\/a> have announced that goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will not return to Wednesday\u2019s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> due to a lower-body injury.<\/p>\n

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (lower body) will not return to tonight\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) October 2, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

According to the Sabres, the injury he sustained in the game is the same one that flared up when entering training camp. He had tweaked something at the end of the summer, and didn\u2019t start training camp until more than a week after it started.<\/p>\n

Luukkonen played the entirety of the first period before leaving the game, with the Sabres announcing his absence just before the start of the second period. It\u2019s likely that he had tweaked the injury sometime in the period, and decided to step out of the game after evaluating it during the intermission. It\u2019s also possible that the departure is precautionary in preparation for the regular season.<\/p>\n

The severity of Luukkonen\u2019s injury and his timeline for return is not known at this point, but will likely be confirmed either at the end of Wednesday\u2019s game or during practice. The Sabres don\u2019t start their season until Thursday, October 9th, so Luukkonen will have a week to get healthy in time for that.<\/p>\n

The Sabres still have plenty of depth in net if Luukkonen is not ready for the season opener. After signing Alex Lyon to a two-year deal with a $1.5 million cap hit in the summer, the Sabres also signed Alexandar Georgiev to a one-year, $825,000 contract shortly before Luukkonen\u2019s initial injury was announced. Buffalo also has young netminder Devon Levi in their system as well.<\/p>\n

Luukkonen left Wednesday\u2019s game stopping 11 of 12 shots and saving 1.36 goals above expected, with Georgiev taking over for him in the game. This was Luukkonen\u2019s first game of the preseason.<\/p>\n

After a breakout season in 2023-24, Luukkonen struggled with the Sabres in 2024-25 with a 24-24-5 record, an .887 save percentage, and a -4.83 5v5 goals saved above expected in 55 games.<\/p>\n