To begin the 2023-24 season, the Buffalo Sabres have been plagued by inconsistency in goaltender. Following the injury to goaltender Eric Comrie, the team has relied on a combination of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Devon Levi, both of whom have appeared in five games this season.
At only 21 years old, Levi’s bad start could be attributed to growing pains, as he only has a 2-3-0 record,.886 SV%, and 3.41 GAA. Luukkonen, on the other hand, has had fantastic starts, like as the one he had against the Colorado Avalanche on October 29th, when he earned a shutout against a strong offensive team. Only two games later, however, Luukkonen would allow five goals on 19 shots against the Philadelphia Flyers, a team with an offensive that is nothing like as capable as Colorado’s.
To try and get more consistency out of his goaltenders, Lance Lysowksi of The Buffalo News reports that head coach Don Gronato is not keen on giving one starter a bulk of the starts, and will begin to rotate Levi and Luukkonen more regularly, in an attempt to create a hot hand in the net. This is largely the most logistical choice for the Sabres to make for the time being, as neither starter has shown the capacity to carry a majority of the load quite yet in their young careers.
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