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Luukkonen’s 27 saves blank Golden Knights in 2-0 loss

Luukkonen’s 27 saves blank Golden Knights in 2-0 loss

The Vegas Golden Knights couldn’t solve Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen on Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena. The 6-foot-5 Finn stopped all 27 shots he faced, leading the Sabres to a 2-0 victory and handing the Knights their fourth loss in seven games since the Olympic break.

Despite outshooting Buffalo 27-23 and generating 68 shot attempts to the Sabres’ 50, the Knights came up empty. They missed the net 21 times, unable to beat Luukkonen even on high-danger chances.

“I thought we played a good game. I really did,” said winger Mitch Marner. “We had a lot of good looks and the goalie made some good saves. But I liked our game.”

Adin Hill made 23 saves in his fifth straight start, allowing just one goal on a misplay behind his own net. With 18:02 left in the first period, Hill mishandled the puck near the trapezoid; Sabres forward Josh Doan collected it and fired it into the net as Hill scrambled back.

Hill has allowed eight goals on 105 shots over his last five starts, a .924 save percentage, but the Knights couldn’t provide offensive support.

The Knights (31-23-14) dropped to third place in the Pacific Division. Buffalo (42-20-6) tied Carolina for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

Luukkonen made several key saves, including a glove stop on Brayden McNabb in tight and a lunging denial of Pavel Dorofeyev on the power play. Marner hit the crossbar with 5:02 remaining in regulation.

Josh Norris sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 58 seconds left.

The Knights wrap up their four-game homestand Thursday against the Utah Mammoth.

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