Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen recorded a career-high 41 saves as the Buffalo Sabres defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 on Monday night.
Jeff Skinner, Tage Thompson, and Lawrence Pilut scored to lead Buffalo to its first victory in Las Vegas, breaking a 0-3-1 record. The Sabres, now 6-2-1 in December after a tough November, are tied with Florida for fourth place in the Atlantic Division with 34 points.
Chandler Stephenson and Reilly Smith scored for Vegas, while Adin Hill made 15 saves. The Golden Knights have struggled at home, falling to 8-9-1. They have been outscored 26-11 in their last seven home games, including six losses.
After a lackluster first period filled with heavy hits and intense exchanges, Sabres captain Kyle Okposo delivered a motivating speech that resonated with the team.
“We had our captain come in and challenge us. He’s an unbelievable captain, unbelievable character, unbelievable player, and you know what, when he says something, everyone’s listening,” former Golden Knight Alex Tuch said. “I thought we stepped up to the occasion, and we responded well.”
Early in the second period, Tuch skated into the zone with linemate Thompson trailing strategically. Tuch passed to Skinner, who fired it past Hill to put Buffalo up 1-0 at 1:53.
Buffalo doubled their lead when Thompson, taking Casey Fitzgerald’s pass after a Vegas turnover, maneuvered around Nic Hague and waited for Phil Kessel to pass by before scoring at 7:15.
Pilut made it 3-0 with 6:30 left in the second period after the Sabres won a faceoff, receiving a pass from Okposo and slapping it from the blue line into the net.
Luukkonen continued to shine, including stopping a breakaway attempt from Vegas captain Mark Stone.
Stephenson put Vegas on the board with a breakaway goal at 3:54 of the third period, assisted by Michael Amadio.
Luukkonen made another crucial save during a penalty kill, stretching across to block a shot from Smith, one of five saves during Vegas’ power play.
Jonathan Marchessault had a penalty shot with 6:57 left, but Luukkonen made another critical save.
“It’s always good as a goalie when you can make a play like that, which kind of might change the direction of the game at that point,” Luukkonen said.
Smith brought Vegas within one goal with 2:21 remaining, scoring through traffic.
Despite outshooting Buffalo 23-5 in the third period, the Golden Knights couldn’t overcome Luukkonen’s stellar performance.
“Just one of those nights where it’s not going in and I thought we battled hard, we created a lot of good looks in the third period,” Smith said. “Just wasn’t our night.”
Game Notes
- Stephenson’s goal extended his point streak to five games (two goals, six assists).
- The Golden Knights went 0 for 3 on the power play, failing to score with a man advantage for the first time in five games.
- With the league’s second-best power play, Buffalo went 0 for 1 with an extra skater.
UP NEXT
- Sabres: Host Tampa Bay on Friday night.
- Golden Knights: Host Arizona on Wednesday night.