Wednesday’s loss to the Ottawa Senators was not all on the goaltending, but the Sabres Grades illustrate the drastic difference in performance between Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Devon Levi. Levi came into the game to relieve Luukkonen after the Senators took a 4-0 lead just 8:49 into the opening period.

Goaltending aside, only five skaters had above-average games. The team stumbling out of the gate in front of their goalies was just as startling as Luukkonen’s struggles, leaving everyone scratching their heads.

Must Read: ‘Disappointing’ First Period Leads to 6-2 Sabres Loss to Senators

If you missed the introduction to the grading system, we’re assigning letter grades to each Buffalo player based on game performance. The letter grades are assigned based on statistical computation, taking into account the following factors:

• Production
• Quality of offense
• Quality of defense
• Volume of offense
• Volume of defense
• Powerplay performance
• Penalty kill performance
• Penalties drawn and taken
• Role
• Minutes played

Studs

Devon Levi

Grade: A+

This is Devon Levi’s second straight appearance with an “A+” grade, suggesting his time in Rochester has worked wonders for his confidence. The rookie netminder was put in a compromising position with his team down 4-0, and only conceded a goal to Brady Tkachuk on an incredible four-on-four passing play.

He stopped 32 of 33 shots in the game and had a delta save percentage on unblocked shots of about six percentage points betting than expected per Evolving-Hockey, at 97.7%. In other words, he negated over two goals on clean shots faced thanks to saves and positioning.

Levi will remain with the Sabres through the weekend. He’s likely to start one of either Friday or Saturday’s games before heading back to Rochester for their playoff run. If he continues to play at this level, Buffalo should be confident in their young goaltending tandem heading into next season.

JJ Peterka

Grade: B+

Production: C+

Offense: C+

Defense: C+

Special Teams: A

A few days ago, I wrote that JJ Peterka’s promotion to the top line with Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch won’t work for the Sabres. Peterka scored again as the first left winger, giving him four goals in three games since the promotion.

Must Read: Peterka With Thompson and Tuch Is Not The Answer

Yet, it didn’t work. The Sabres got crushed in the first period and no other line provided any sustained offense. The analysis and critique were more about balancing out the lineup, and since the trio has been together the offense has come from one source.

Head coach Don Granato has flirted with reuniting the “kid line” now that Jack Quinn has returned. It will be interesting to see how quickly he resorts back to playing Peterka with Quinn and Dylan Cozens to find some secondary scoring.

Rasmus Dahlin

Grade: C+

Production: C-

Offense: B+

Defense: D

Special Teams: B-

We’re at a point where Rasmus Dahlin’s “bad” games are still above average. He still was in the 90th percentile of offensive-zone shot attempts created for his team when on the ice. He also quarterbacked a dangerous Sabres powerplay that did not score amid a flurry of chances.

The troubles were in the defensive zone. Predictably, the quality of chances against Dahlin was very high, with the early onslaught and the star defenseman aggressively playing up the ice to get his team back in the game.

Duds

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

Grade: F

This is the second “F” for Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in three starts after giving up eight goals to the Edmonton Oilers last Thursday. Perhaps he’s worn down from the Sabres leaning on him heavily over the past two months, but it’s concerning that he’s trending down after such a spectacular 2024.