Sabres Goalie Prospect Named AHL Player Of The Week

It's not too often that Sabres players get national recognition.  With the exception of the media buzz surrounding the Jack Eichel trade a few weeks back, there's not a lot of Buffalo news that gets reported in the NHL world. Well, there was some good Sabres news this week coming out of Rochester.  The Buffalo Sabres' second-round pick from the 2017 draft is beginning to blossom for the American's. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was selected as the AHL Player of the Week, for the week that ended this past Sunday.

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The 22-year-old from Espoo, Finland was on fire for the Rochester American's last week, has he faced 117 total shots, allowing only 5 goals.  Plus, he notched the first shutout of his young career.

His standout game was on Wednesday night, as he saved 41 shots as the Amerks took down the Penguins from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He also had games where he saved 39 and 32 shots, including the 4-0 shutout over the Cleveland Monsters.  He now has a record of 4-4-0 on the young season, which includes a 1.77 goals-against average for the month of November,

The young goalie appeared in four games for the parent club last season here in Buffalo and earned his first career victory against the Boston Bruins.  If he keeps playing like this, we should be seeing him here down The 90 again soon.

Ukko-Pekka Luukonen is the first Buffalo Sabres farmhand to take home the AHL Player of the Week award since 2014 7th round draft choice Victor Olofsson won the award for Rochester in October of the 2014 season.

Luukonen and the Amerks will be back in action tomorrow (11/17), as they take on the Utica Comets.  The Sabres take on the Penguins tonight in Pittsburgh.