Buffalo Sabres goalie prospect Devon Levi is putting together a terrific season in the AHL. He’s 12-3-2 with a .913 save percentage, 2.33 goals-against average and two shutouts. He was named to the AHL All-Star Game. At that level, the 23-year-old has looked the part as one of hockey’s most promising goalie prospects.
But the story has been a bit different in Levi’s NHL action this season. That continued on Monday for Levi in the Sabres’ 6-4 loss to the Seattle Kraken. The Sabres recalled Levi on Sunday with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen dealing with what Lindy Ruff called nagging ailments. Levi got the first start of the team’s four-game road trip and wasn’t as sharp as the Sabres hoped. He stopped 28 of the 33 shots he faced. According to Natural Stat Trick, Levi faced 2.83 expected goals and allowed five.
Five minutes into the game, he allowed a big rebound, and John Hayden took advantage. Defenseman Bowen Byram could have made a better play on the puck, but Levi also got a clean look at the shot and couldn’t make the save.
Hayden, 1-1 #sabrehood #seakraken pic.twitter.com/6zKb8QPzuO
— Buffalo Hockey Moments (@SabresPlays) January 20, 2025
Later in the period, Chandler Stephenson scored on a scrambly play in front of the net. The next two goals were both clean shots that beat Levi. Matty Beniers got an uncontested look from between the faceoff dots on the power play and beat Levi. Then Jamie Oleksiak scored on a one-timer from the faceoff circle. Seattle’s fifth goal was a point shot that deflected off Tage Thompson before sneaking by Levi.
Oleksiak steps into one to make it 4-3 #sabrehood #seakraken pic.twitter.com/5CNV6eZaUh
— Buffalo Hockey Moments (@SabresPlays) January 20, 2025
Levi also had some bright moments, too, including making a sensational save to stop Andre Burakosvky on a two-on-zero chance
Levi save on a Burakovsky/Bjorkstrand 2 on 0 #sabrehood #seakraken pic.twitter.com/uINVqAQsWT
— Buffalo Hockey Moments (@SabresPlays) January 20, 2025
But overall, it was a tough game for Levi. He’s had a goals-against average higher than 4.00 in six of his last seven starts in the NHL. The Sabres are 1-6 in those games. The team around him has been a problem, too. After the game, Ruff was frustrated with the Sabres’ inability to win battles.
“Every goal there was a lost battle,” Ruff told reporters after the game. “You’re not going to win games when you lose net-front battles for goals, we lost behind the goal-line battles. Almost 90 percent of their opportunities were at the hands of us losing a battle … It’s physical strength on a couple of them. Got outmuscled. Conditioning. There’s a lot of things you’ve got to point to.”
Eventually, Levi might be the type of goalie who can help the Sabres overcome those errors. But this was also his first NHL game in more than a month and he only played one NHL game in December. It’s not always easy to adjust to the speed of the game when getting thrown in sporadically the way Levi has.
The Sabres will need to have some patience with Levi. Given that they’re in last place in the Eastern Conference and their playoff hopes are all but dashed, getting Levi games here and there makes sense. But there’s nothing wrong with letting him build on the success he’s having in Rochester. The Amerks are in first place, and Levi could be a key piece to a long Calder Cup playoff run. That’s better for his development than what’s happening in Buffalo right now.
Quick hits
1. Jiri Kulich returned to the Sabres’ lineup on Monday after missing four games with a lower-body injury. Not only was he back, Kulich was centering the top line between Jason Zucker and Thompson. With Ryan McLeod on injured reserve, Kulich got a prime opportunity with two of Buffalo’s best forwards. While he didn’t score, Kulich led the team with 0.89 expected goals, eight shot attempts and seven scoring chances. The rookie is still trying to find consistency when it comes to finishing chances, but it’s encouraging how much offense he’s creating.
2. Zucker had a goal and an assist and now has 16 goals and 19 assists for 35 points in 46 games. He played more than 22 minutes in this game. Last week, he expressed interest in signing a contract extension with the Sabres. General manager Kevyn Adams should find a way to get that done sooner rather than later.
3. The Sabres are now tied for the league lead with 29 games in which they have scored the first goal. Their 51 first-period goals are the second most in the NHL. After being one of the slowest starting teams in the NHL last season, the Sabres have fixed that problem. Buffalo’s new problem is that it has a .448 winning percentage when scoring first, which is second worst in the NHL ahead of only the Chicago Blackhawks.
(Photo: Joe Nicholson / Imagn Images)
