‘Win this one for Eddie’ | Hockey Fights Cancer Night a special one for Luukkonen, Sabres

Prior to Friday’s puck drop between the Buffalo Sabres and Columbus Blue Jackets, as part of Hockey Fights Cancer Night at KeyBank Center, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen shared a heartwarming moment with his friend Eddie.

Eddie Golden, 10 years old and a huge Sabres fan, is being treated for lymphoblastic leukemia at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. He and Luukkonen, who've grown close through Sabres visits to Roswell, walked the purple carpet into the arena together Friday. And then Eddie, wearing a three-piece purple suit and bowtie, performed the ceremonial puck drop.

“I thought I dressed sharp today but got one-upped by Eddie big time,” Luukkonen said. “I’ve got to step up my game for next year.

“… I probably was more nervous than Eddie was; I haven’t taken too many faceoffs in my life.”

Luukkonen went on to make 24 saves in a 5-2 Sabres win, his fifth victory of the season. For a guy with a lot on his mind – it comes with the territory as an NHL goaltender – a little pregame perspective goes a long way.

“I think that’s one of the coolest things about what we do, being a professional athlete, that we get to do these things,” he said. “Every time I see Eddie, he’s smiling, and it makes your problems and everything feel small. It was an unreal night tonight.”

In this game, Luukkonen’s problems were, in fact, pretty small. Facing a Blue Jackets team in the back half of a back-to-back, the Sabres were the faster team all night and didn’t allow a shot until eight minutes in.

Columbus’ Kent Johnson beat Luukkonen late in the first period to tie it 1-1, but Josh Norris (more on him later) responded two minutes later, and Buffalo led for the rest of the night. After being burned by defensive lapses in Wednesday’s loss to Ottawa, the Sabres limited the Blue Jackets to four scoring chances off the rush and 2.69 expected goals (Stathletes).

“It was just a great game from the team, first and foremost,” Luukkonen said. “They made it easy for me tonight.”

Goaltending was a weakness for Buffalo to start the season, but dating back to the Oct. 27 win in San Jose, Luukkonen and Colten Ellis have combined for the NHL’s fourth-best save percentage (.916) and a 4-1-0 record.

Postgame, Luukkonen was announced as the second star for his solid effort in net. The first star? Eddie.

“I felt like we needed to win this one for Eddie,” coach Lindy Ruff said. “What a great story and what a great young man – the courage he’s shown and what he’s dealt with. … What we get to do is secondary to what that young man has dealt with.”

Offense breaks out

Friday morning, Ruff discussed his decision to healthy scratch forward Ryan McLeod. The coach was then asked about McLeod’s linemate, Norris, who had just three points this season. Ruff’s response:

“Another guy, I’ll just tell you, I’ve spent a lot of time with. I’d like to see the chances go up. I’d like to see the puck possession go up in a lot of situations. Watched some video with him, even talked to him about his game this morning again. There’s a better Josh Norris there that just has to come out.”

A better Norris came out and produced his third and fourth goals of the season to lead Buffalo’s five-goal outburst. His go-ahead tally, at 4-on-4 late in the opening period, saw Norris enter the zone on a partial odd-man rush, drag to the center of the ice and shoot through a screen to beat goalie Jet Greaves. It likely helped Norris’ cause to have the red-hot Jack Quinn, who’d already scored in the game, driving to the back post as a passing option.

“I just tried to have an attack mindset (on the) first one,” Norris said. “I think sometimes throughout the year I would probably pass that, but just get back to shooting and just be a threat.”

On his second goal, Norris got free atop the crease, received a behind-the-net pass from Zach Benson and faked Greaves out of his net, creating an easy backhand tap-in.

“I saw just what we talked about,” Ruff said of Norris’ night. “I thought (he) skated through the neutral zone better, possessed the puck better, got rewarded. Great shot on the 4-on-4 goal, but the next goal, got himself around the front of the net. And when you’re struggling, you’ve got to get inside.”

Rasmus Dahlin snapped a six-game drought for his third goal of the season, Josh Doan a four-game drought for his third. Columbus challenged Doan’s for goalie interference, but he made only minimal contact with Greaves before the puck deflected off him – good goal.

“You want to break out of something,” Ruff repeated, “get around the blue paint.”

The Sabres finished with 38 shots, one shy of their season high, and 10 different skaters had a point. Quinn added an assist for a two-point night, while Owen Power matched a career high with three helpers – two of them primaries. And Benson’s assist extended his point streak to a career-best six games.

Timmins steps in

Defenseman Conor Timmins made his season debut after recovering from a preseason lower-body injury. Stepping in for Louis Crevier, Timmins skated 15:04, including 3:16 on the penalty kill, blocked two shots and contributed an assist on Quinn’s goal.

As he tends to do with Timmins in the lineup, Ruff rotated his defensive pairs. Timmins took his even-strength shifts with either Power (6:25) or Mattias Samuelsson (4:09).

Postgame sound

Up next

The Sabres host the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. MSG’s pregame coverage starts at 3.

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