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Sabres hint at their starting goaltender for Game 7.
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- Sabres hint at their starting goaltender for Game 7.
Sabres hint at their starting goaltender for Game 7.
The Montreal Canadiens will travel to KeyBank center in Buffalo tonight to take on the Buffalo Sabres in the first and only Game 7 in the second round of this year's Stanley Cup playoffs. There's no question who will be backstopping the Canadiens tonight with goaltender Jakub Dobes playing all 13 games for the Canadiens so far, but that certainty does not apply to the Buffalo Sabres.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff has turned to both Alex Lyon and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen at different times in this series and that's why ahead of Game 7 on Monday night, Ruff was asked about who his man between the pipes would be for the biggest game of the season. Ruff declined to give an answer to the question, choosing to leave his opponents guessing, but the Sabres may have already tipped their head during the team's morning skate.
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Both the aforementioned Alex Lyon as well as goaltender Colten Ellis remained on the ice with the extra skaters following the team's morning skate, a sign that would typically indicate that Ruff will turn to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen tonight.
It makes sense given the most recent example we have seen from both goaltenders in these Stanley Cup playoffs. Lyon completely collapsing in Game 6 when he allowed the Canadiens to score 3 times with just 4 shots on goal, while Pekka Luukkonen came into that game and played the hero stopping all 18 of the shots he faced for a perfect performance in relief of Lyon.
Lyon has been the more consistent performer for the Sabres in these playoffs with 10 games played and a .904 save percentage over that stretch, while Pekka Luukkonen has recorded an .875 save percentage over his 5 playoff appearances, and as a result I suspect this wasn't an easy decision on the part of Lindy Ruff.
Do you agree with this move? Should the Sabres have gone in a different direction? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
