NHL: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, sizzling Sabres shut out Golden Knights

Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 28 saves to earn his first shutout of the season, leading the Sabres to a 2-0 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night in Las Vegas.

Josh Doan and Josh Norris scored for Buffalo, which held a four-point lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning, who beat the Seattle Kraken 6-2, atop the Atlantic Division. The win also put Buffalo in a tie with the Carolina Hurricanes for first place in the Eastern Conference with 90 points.

It was the eighth shutout of Luukkonen’s career and his first since Jan. 9, 2025, against Ottawa. The Sabres improved to 18-2-1 in their past 21 road games and recorded their 10th win in 11 games since the Winter Olympics break.

Vegas goalie Adin Hill, making his fifth consecutive start and coming off his first shutout of the season on Saturday against the Chicago Blackhawks, stopped 23 of 24 shots. The Golden Knights, who saw their two-game winning streak end, fell into third place in the tightly packed Pacific Division, one point behind the Anaheim Ducks and Edmonton Oilers.

Buffalo struck first late in the opening period after a puck-handling error by Hill. Attempting to clear the puck to Rasmus Andersson in the left corner, Hill lost possession to Doan, who backhanded a shot that ricocheted off Hill’s right pad into the net at 18:02 of the first period.

Hill redeemed himself early in the third period, stopping a point-blank one-timer from Norris after Doan set him up following a steal from Noah Hanifin. Vegas came close to tying the game with 5:05 remaining when Mitch Marner’s shot from the right circle hit the crossbar.

The Golden Knights pulled Hill for an extra attacker with 1:30 left and nearly scored on a one-timer by Jack Eichel, but Norris sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 57.6 seconds remaining.

—Field Level Media/Reuters