Luukkonen stopped 14 of 18 shots in Friday's 5-2 loss to the Penguins. The fifth goal was an empty-netter.
The Penguins snapped a three-game losing streak, improving to 19-20-8. The Sabres, now 17-23-5, will look to address their defensive and penalty-kill issues. Earlier this season they lost 11 straight games and have lost five of their last eight games.
Luukkonen was sharp in Wednesday's 4-2 win over Carolina as he turned aside 35 shots. Luukkonen is 14-13-4 with a pair of shutouts, a 2.99 GAA and an .898 save percentage. The Penguins are averaging 2.96 goals per game in 2024-25.
With the Penguins leading the Sabres 4-2 and Buffalo's goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen at the bench, the Sabres would put the puck into the corner and the puck would come to Nedeljkovic. With that goal, Nedeljkovic would become just the second goalie in the Penguins' history to score a goal.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen wasn't able to bail out the Sabres when they began to make mistakes in the second period. Their starting goalie was outplayed by Penguins backup Alex Nedeljkovic, as Pittsburgh scored four consecutive goals and held on for a 5-2 win in KeyBank Center.
In a game that kicked off a critical seven-game road trip across the country as the Pittsburgh Penguins try to climb back into a playoff spot, they rode an efficient power play and strong goaltending on Friday while shedding some bad habits to down the Buffalo Sabres 5-2.
The Sabres welcome the Pittsburgh Penguins to KeyBank Center Friday night. Buffalo looks to make it back to back wins this week at home as Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen gets the start in net.
Alex Nedeljkovic became the first goalie in NHL history to have a goal and an assist, and made 40 saves as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-2 on Friday night. Rickard Rakell, Anthony Beauvillier,
Alex Nedeljkovic became the second goaltender in Pittsburgh Penguins history to score a goal during a 5-2 victory against the host Buffalo Sabres on Friday at KeyBank Center. His score came on an empty net at 17 minutes,
Buffalo recorded a season-high 42 shots in the loss. A rough second period, with six penalty minutes and three goals allowed, sank the Buffalo Sabres as they lost 5-2 to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday at KeyBank Center.
Nedeljkovic scored when he sent the puck from behind the net down the ice and into an empty net with 2:42 left in the third.
Not only did Nedeljkovic become the first goalie in NHL history to have a goal and an assist in the same game, but he also made 40 saves to lead the Penguins to a 5-2 win over the Sabres.