The Buffalo Sabres 5-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday was merely a distraction to the big story to emerge from the club’s final preseason game. Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who started his first exhibition game, left the contest for precautionary reasons after feeling some lower-body discomfort.

"UPL felt good getting into the game, and then after he made a couple saves, just didn't feel quite right," Ruff said after the game.  "We took him (as a) precaution....(we)didn't want to really risk anything.....We don't to take a chance."

The 26-year-old has been dealing with pain since tweaking something in ramping up for training camp in late August / early September. Concerns over the lower-body injury forced Sabres GM Kevyn Adams to sign veteran Alexandar Georgiev to a one-year deal just before the start of camp.

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 Adams said last month that Luukkonen went through tests and that it came out clear, but after rehabbing and a week of practice leading into the start against Pittsburgh, the discomfort came back after facing 12 Penguins shots in the opening 20 minutes. On Thursday, Ruff indicated that Luukkonen was undergoing further testing, that is possible that the injury is different than the one that made him miss the start of camp, but that it is possible that he could miss the season opener against the NY Rangers one week from today.

Defenseman Michael Kesselring, who was playing elevated in the in the lineup due to injuries to Bowen Byram and Owen Power, left the game in the second period. Ruff stated that the blueliner has been dealing with an injury since the start of camp and that he is also undergoing further testing.   

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