Luukkonen started the first two games of the first round of the playoffs against the Boston Bruins, but Lyon started seven in a row after that before Luukkonen got his next opportunity in a 3-2 victory in Game 4 against the Canadiens. He ended up 3-3 with a 3.18 GAA and .876 save percentage in six appearances (five starts) in his first experience with the NHL playoffs, which provided plenty of lessons.
“I just learned that during the (regular) season, you can get away with a B game or if this and that happen, but in the playoffs there really isn't any room for mistakes,” Luukkonen said. “I think everything kind of (multiplies) when it comes to playoffs. A lot of times it’s kind of chess match between the teams and you just wait for the other guy to make a mistake.”
Having watched it a few times, Luukkonen said “there’s plenty of things” that went into Alex Newhook’s winning goal at 11:22 of overtime in Game 7 against Montreal. Using Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin as a screen on the rush, Newhook took a wrist shot from the top of left circle that went in under Luukkonen’s glove and over his left pad. The puck might have deflected off Dahlin, causing it to flip end over end and drop.
“There’s a moving screen,” Luukkonen said. “You’re kind of too high on your stance, and then you have to react down on the puck. And you think that it's coming up when it's not. So, it's really hard for a goalie to read a shot when the puck is not flat on the ice.
“I don’t know if it hit something or not. In the end, it's just not the way you want the season to end.”
Luukkonen spent most of the summer in Helsinki, working for the third straight offseason with personal goalie coach Hannu Nykvist. He said they focused mostly on “just slowing it down and working on small details.”
Overall, Luukkonen views his play last season, particularly the regular season, as potential steppingstone, but also knows there is room for improvement.
“I think I had a really good stretch there and just being able to play more games, being able to be the guy when called upon,” he said. “I need to just be able to play consistent, a good standard of hockey and, hopefully, get a couple more games next year.”
Whether that’s possible if the Sabres carry three goalies again is to be determined. Luukkonen also is aware of the rumors about Buffalo potentially acquiring Connor Hellebuyck, a three-time winner of the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goalie, in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets. Hellebuyck went public last week with his trade request, which he said he made “several months ago.”
“My dad told me about it,” Luukkonen said. “I don't follow it too much. Of course, no hockey player is completely out of it, so I knew that it was going on, but in the end, I didn't hear anything from my agent or anybody else either. So, I don't know to what extent those (talks) went.”
Buffalo has stood pat with its goalies so far, but there were other offseason changes. They included the departures of defenseman Bowen Byram (trade with Chicago Blackhawks) and forwards Alex Tuch (sign and trade with Washington Capitals) and Jordan Greenway (traded with Byram to Chicago) and additions of defensemen Olen Zellweger (trade with Anaheim Ducks) and Louis Crevier (part of the return in Byram trade).
Luukkonen believes the Sabres will be better from what they learned last season, though. They cleared a significant hurdle in ending their playoff drought and gained valuable postseason experience before falling one goal short of reaching the Eastern Conference Final.
The first step toward building on that will be getting off to a better start than last season.
“Just starting well in the season, playing a sustainable style of hockey which we can repeat every night, I think will be huge for us,” Luukkonen said. “We kind of saw that in playoffs. When you have a style of play which has been working for you during the regular season, you can't really start to change anything when the playoffs start. So, it’s just getting comfortable with the way we play, everybody getting comfortable with their own role, and what they have to do for the team to win.
“And through that, be ready for the playoffs.”
