Sabres’ Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen comes up big in shootout win over Kraken

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 32 saves in regulation and overtime, and stopped both attempts in the shootout, helping the Buffalo Sabres rally for a 3-2 victory against the visiting Seattle Kraken on Saturday evening.

Rasmus Dahlin and Peyton Krebs scored in regulation, and Tage Thompson and Jack Quinn scored in the shootout for the Sabres (45-21-8, 98 points), who avoided losing four in a row for the first time since a five-game skid in November.

Chandler Stephenson and Bobby McMann each had a goal and an assist, Kaapo Kakko recorded two assists and Philipp Grubauer made 34 saves for the Kraken (32-29-11, 75 points), who have lost five of six (1-3-2) after taking a 2-0 lead in the second period.

The Kraken grabbed a 1-0 lead at 12:42 of the first period.

A clearing pass by Buffalo defenseman Logan Stanley went off the skate of Stephenson while he was still in the Sabres zone and McMann gloved it down before passing it to Kakko on his right.

Kakko brought the puck through the right circle before passing it to Stephenson coming through the left circle, and he scored off the bottom of the crossbar with a wrist shot.

McMann extended the lead to 2-0 with his seventh goal in eight games since he was acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 6 -- the most goals of any player dealt at this season's trade deadline.

McMann was bringing the puck down the right side when Dahlin tried to check him off the puck but failed. McMann skated in on Luukkonen and scored on the shortside at 13:18 of the second.

Buffalo cut it to 2-1 with a power-play goal at 15:55 of the second

Adam Larsson was in the penalty box for slashing when Dahlin scored with a wrist shot from above the right hash marks.

Krebs tied it 2-2 at 11:39 of the third when he entered the play late and received a pass from Zach Benson before skating into the right face-off circle and scoring with a snap shot.