‘Chaos in the crease’ doesn’t faze Sabres as they prepare for Game 7 in Buffalo

MONTREAL — The Buffalo Sabres have made four goalie swaps, including mid-game switches in each of their last two playoff games, and still remain in position to win the second-round, best-of-seven series against the Montreal Canadiens.

After falling behind 3-1 early in Saturday’s Game 6, and then storming back to win 8-3 at the Bell Centre, the Sabres can dismiss all the goaltending chaos as irrelevant as they prepare for a winner-take-all Game 7 at KeyBank Center on Monday night.

“There’s no difference in preparation,” said netminder Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen, who stopped all 18 shots he faced in relief of starter Alex Lyon on Saturday. “You prepare the same way every game. You have to be ready to go. That’s why there’s two goalies.

“I feel like that’s been the story of the whole year. As a team, everybody, when their chance comes or when they’re needed, they have stepped up.”

Lyon, who started the first three games of the series before losing the net to Luukkonen for Games 4 and 5, allowed three goals on just four shots through the opening 10:14 of the game before he was given the hook.

“In a game like this, it just felt Al wasn’t seeing it,” said Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff. “I just turned to UPL (Luukkonen) to see if he can help us out and he did. From that point, he probably made four or five really good saves that kept them off the board.”

Luukkonen felt confident as he entered the game, believing he didn’t have a whole lot to lose.

“When you get put in, it doesn’t really matter how many shots you see,” said Luukkonen. “You just try to find a way to get comfortable in the net and be ready for the next shot. I feel like, as a goalie, you kind of have to think that you’re almost playing with house money at that point.

“You kind of want to just do your best to help your team win. You can’t overcomplicate things. You have to go just one shot at a time.”

Luukkonen started the first two games of Buffalo’s first-round playoff series with the Boston Bruins, but was yanked 16 seconds into the third period of Game 2 with his team trailing 4-0.

The Espoo, Finland native rode the pine for seven straight games until being called upon in Game 4 of this series last Tuesday. The 27-year-old made 29 saves in his team’s 3-2 win that night, but was pulled in favour of Lyon after two periods in Game 5.

It was, therefore, Lyon starting Saturday’s Game 6, an outing that was short-lived.

“You have to be able to kind of just never get too low, never get too high,” said Luukkonen. “Every game is different and a new one. You can’t really drag those games along. You need to know what you did wrong and what you need to do better.”

Despite the goalie change early in the game, Ruff was not dissatisfied with his team’s overall play to start the game.

“I thought we played a hell of a first period,” said Ruff. “We just didn’t win the scoresheet battle.”

While the Sabres may have been trailing 3-1 at the time of Luukkonen’s entry into the game, forward Jason Zucker believed his team was a victim of a couple unlucky breaks.

“They (Montreal) had one goal on a power play, another off the faceoff,” said Zucker, who scored the first of seven unanswered goals for the Sabres after the goalie switch. “Overall, we kind of liked what we were doing. We needed to keep it going, stay on our toes and we did that.”

The Sabres have already started turning their sights to Game 7.

While Buffalo has won just two of their six home games these playoffs, they remain confident in their ability to close out the series in front of their fans and book their spot in the Eastern Conference final against the rested Carolina Hurricanes.

“It’s going to be awesome,” said Tage Thompson, who collected four points in his team’s Game 6 win. “It’s a new experience for a lot of guys in this room and something you dream of growing up. We knew, going into this series, it was going to be a long one. They’re a good team. I think it’s just something that gets you excited. It’s another game that we get to embrace.

“I think if you would have asked every guy in here, in September, if they would have taken being in Game 7 of Round 2, we all would have signed up for that. We’re in a great spot and now it’s just one game. It’s all that matters.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2026.

Jordan Stoopler, The Canadian Press