BOSTON — The Buffalo Sabres are making a few lineup changes ahead of Game 3 against the Boston Bruins.
Based on the morning skate, Alex Lyon is expected to take Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s place as the team’s starting goalie. Luukkonen started the first two games of the series but got pulled early in the third period of Game 2 after allowing four goals on 20 shots. Lyon had a net to himself at Buffalo’s morning skate Thursday while Luukkonen and Colten Ellis shared reps in the other net.
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff chuckled when asked who the starting goalie would be and said it was “top secret.”
“I can tell you this, we’ve used three goalies all year,” Ruff said. “Some people thought it was a little unusual that we alternated. The cool thing about our team is, again, I’ll say this, we haven’t relied on one guy. We haven’t relied on one goalie. We’ve had a lot of different players help us get to where we are. We know we’re a good team because of the depth of our goaltending. We know we’re a good team because of the depth of our forwards. It isn’t about one person. We could alternate goaltenders from now until the end of the playoffs, and it would be perfectly normal for our club.”
Lyon and Luukkonen shared the net for most of the season. Lyon missed the final week of the regular season with an injury but returned in time to back up Luukkonen for the first two games of the series. At one point this season, Lyon won 10 road games in a row, which was one win away from tying an NHL record. That success on the road matters against a Bruins team that tied for the most home wins in the league this season.
The goalie change isn’t the only switch the Sabres are expected to make for this game. Josh Norris missed the morning skate, and Ruff said he’s not available for Game 3 due to injury. He classified him as day to day. Noah Östlund, who has been out with an injury since March 25, was skating in Norris’ place on a line with Zach Benson and Josh Doan. He was also skating on Buffalo’s second power-play unit with Alex Tuch taking Norris’ place on the top unit. Östlund, who had 27 points and was plus-11 in 60 games as a rookie, will be making his playoff debut.
“I can talk a lot about him,” Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin said of Östlund. “He’s a special guy. He comes in as a rookie and looks like he’s been playing in this league forever. He’s so smart defensively and offensively. When you watch him play, it doesn’t look like he makes a mistake out there. He just does everything right, it looks like. He’s a great teammate. He stands up for guys. He’s a veteran off the ice. He’s doing it all right.”
The Sabres are also adjusting their fourth line. After Josh Dunne played the first two games, Tyson Kozak was in his place at morning skate between Jordan Greenway and Beck Malenstyn. Kozak, 23, who has never played in the Stanley Cup playoffs, played 46 games for the Sabres during the regular season.
“He’s brought a lot of speed and a lot of tenacity, and I think he can pressure the puck, his tracking away from the puck with his skating has been real good,” Ruff said. “In the faceoff dot, there’s times that I’ve really trusted him. He’s won some key faceoffs, which are going to be important. So it’s an opportunity for him to get in and jump into the fire with us.”
