Luukkonen earns 1st NHL shutout in Sabres win against Avalanche

BUFFALO -- Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 23 saves for his first NHL shutout in the Buffalo Sabres' 4-0 win against the Colorado Avalanche at KeyBank Center on Sunday.

"It feels great, especially now when it's only my second start of the season and maybe in Ottawa (a 6-4 Sabres win Oct. 24) the numbers didn't reflect how good I felt in that game," Luukkonen said. "It's really a confidence booster for me and I've been waiting for a long time."

Jeff Skinner had two assists for the Sabres (4-5-0), who received goals from four players.

"I don't care who it is against," Buffalo defenseman Erik Johnson said. "We needed to have a game like that, and it just happened to be against one of the top teams in the League. I think that's a good measuring stick for us. That's a team that knows how to win, that's won … so regardless of who we played, we needed to have a game like that, but to have it against a team like that, it's a new standard for us and it's got to be continued on."

Alexandar Georgiev made 25 saves for the Avalanche (6-2-0), who have been shut out in consecutive games after a 4-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.

"I didn't mind our start," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "I thought we were there to play the right way. We checked hard early in the game, creating high-danger chances. Like I said last game, was an issue and an issue again tonight, and a couple of things that cost us in Pittsburgh.

"You've got to give Buffalo credit. They checked hard, they did the right things, longer and harder than we did. … but no excuses. We've got to be better taking care of the puck through the neutral zone and we've got to continue to work to try and create those high-danger chances. And I thought they did a better job with that tonight than we did."

Luukkonen had to be sharp when the Avalanche built a 6-3 shots-on-goal advantage through the first 9 1/2 minutes of the game, including a save on Mikko Rantanen from the slot.

"I feel like they made a great play," Luukkonen said. "I was a little late to that one but was able to make the save. I feel like that was a big one just because we're not going behind in the early stage of the first and we go and get the first goal of the game, which is huge. That felt good."

JJ Peterka gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 10:32. Colorado defenseman Jack Johnson blocked the initial shot, but Peterka picked up his own rebound in the slot and scored glove side.

Casey Mittelstadt held the puck on a 2-on-1 before shooting top corner from the left face-off dot to make it 2-0 at 1:39 of the second.

Tyson Jost extended Buffalo's lead to 3-0 at 8:16 when he one-timed a backhand pass from Alex Tuch from the high slot.

Rasmus Dahlin scored into an empty net at 16:52 of the third period for the 4-0 final.

"I think they played a solid game, but at the same time I just think at the moment right now, I don't know if we've just gotten complacent as a team," Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar said. "Obviously, you come off of six wins and everybody's gung-ho at you, and then you kind of get punched in the face in Pittsburgh a little bit with a 4-0 loss and same tonight.

"If anything, it's just a reality check, reset the boys. That's all you can do. We're at an early point in the season now where regardless of the power play or 5-on-5, we have to continue building that momentum. It just really never feels like we get that kind of foot in the door. … It feels like right now there's just kind of stuttering on that momentum. Lucky for us that's easy to find. It's just unfortunately it's happened two games in a row."

NOTES: It's the first time Colorado has been shut out in consecutive games since Dec. 20 and Dec. 22, 2016. … Dahlin extended his point streak to eight games (two goals, seven assists), tying Dylan Larkin, William Nylander and Artemi Panarin for the longest streak by an NHL player this season. He is the third defenseman in Sabres history with at least one eight-game point streak (Phil Housley, John Van Boxmeer). … Buffalo defenseman Jacob Bryson played 13:28 in his season debut. … Erik Johnson was plus-1 in 19:42 of ice time; it was his first game for Buffalo against Colorado, where he played 13 seasons, after signing as a free agent July 1.