BUFFALO — It felt like goalie Colten Ellis’ stay here would be brief. Perhaps after filling the backup role for a couple of weeks as Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen recovered from an injury, the Sabres would place the rookie back on waivers or trade him.
But Ellis looked sharp in his first NHL action and fit in well, giving the Sabres extra depth at a critical position and the ability to try different things.
Shortly after Luukkonen returned, goalie Alex Lyon started slumping. For a few weeks, the Sabres enjoyed the luxury of essentially shutting Lyon down, allowing him to work on his game as Luukkonen and Ellis handled the netminding duties.
Ellis, a waiver claim days before the season opener, ended up staying all season and playing 16 games.
Don’t be surprised if Ellis, 25, serves in a similar role next season. The Sabres seem to be open to carrying three goalies again.
Next season, the collective bargaining agreement mandates NHL teams have a full-time emergency backup goalie for home and road games.
He must have no NHL experience, be three years removed from professional hockey and have played no more than 80 games as a pro.
Rather than carrying an EBug, which doesn’t count toward the 23-man roster, Sabres coach Lindy Ruff has a better idea.
“Our thoughts already are instead of an EBug, why wouldn’t you just have three (NHL goalies)?” he said last Wednesday in KeyBank Center. “What if both goalies go down or both goalies are sick?”
Ruff can speak confidently because a three-goalie system paid dividends for the Sabres this season.
When Luukkonen, 27, or Lyon, 33, suffered an injury, the Sabres had someone ready to go. If fact, they did not recall a goalie from the Rochester Americans all season.
Ellis also regularly dressed as the backup, allowing Ruff to give Luukkonen and Lyon a full night off during the grueling schedule.
“The three goaltenders worked,” Ruff said. “I think we proved it that it worked. I know it’s a new concept for a lot of people, but there was more than one team that was carrying three goaltenders for a great part of the year.”
Sabres general manager Jarmo Kekalainen seemed cool on the idea of keeping three goalies when he took over in mid-December. It felt like he wanted to dedicate the roster spot to another position.
But Kekalainen saw the benefits of carrying an extra goalie. At the GM meetings, he said he mentioned using an EBug in a game “would be a tough situation to see.”
“I think having three goalies available all the time, it can be a real good way to go, and I think that once we got talking to all of (the GMs) about it in the exit meetings, they all agreed,” he said.
Of course, the Sabres’ unique situation worked well because Luukkonen, Lyon and Ellis developed a strong relationship and had a healthy competition.
“All three of those guys got along,” Ruff said. “All three of them pushed each other, shared the net and tried to make each other better. And I know that Alex Lyon’s experience was great for UPL and for Ellis.”
The goalies all played well, each posting save percentages over .900 and a goals-against averages well below 3.00.
“It was a rotation that worked, but it wouldn’t have worked if they didn’t know what they bring to the table,” Luukkonen said.
Luukkonen and Lyon formed perhaps the league’s best tandem, often alternating starts.
Ellis, despite some long layoffs between outings, compiled an 8-4-2 record with a 2.90 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage.
“They’re all real good people, real good teammates, real good pros,” Kekalainen said. “… They pushed each other, they supported each other, they challenged each other, they had fun. All want to probably play more games, but that’s great. It’s internal competition, and they’ll be better off.
“At some point, we may have to change that, but I think it’s worked great so far, and it’s been the strength of our team.”
Lyon believes it became a strength, in part, because assistant coach Mikes Bales, who’s in charge of the goalies, helped the netminders focus on the right things.
“When times are good, that’s when it’s probably the easiest to let things slip, and I just think that we did a really good job of maintaining that steady, even focus,” Lyon said. “Some of the situations with the injuries this year were kind of hilarious, just in the fact that one guy would go down, then another guy would come back from injury. It was kind of amazing how it worked like puzzle pieces like that.”