Why Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is starting goalie for Sabres tonight over Alex Lyon

Why Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is starting goalie for Sabres tonight over Alex Lyon originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . The Buffalo Sabres are reversing course in net and going to the goalie who began the playoffs as their starter.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is getting the nod for Game 4 on Tuesday night in Montreal against the Canadiens, with the hosts holding a 2-1 series lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal. Alex Lyon reverts to the backup role. It'll be the first action for UPL since Game 2 of the opening round, when he was pulled in the midst of a nightmare game against the Boston Bruins that included an unfortunate goal allowed on an oddly bouncing puck flipped into the zone.

"I'm excited," Luukkonen told reporters of the opportunity when he spoke with them on Tuesday morning. It's a bold call for Lindy Ruff, but one he made after two straight Montreal wins have pushed the Sabres backs toward the wall. MORE: The Mitch Marner irony of Auston Matthews' future with the Maple Leafs Why is UPL starting tonight?

The reality, through the initial goalie change, was that Luukkonen remained the bigger, stronger, more athletic, more naturally gifted netminder. Lyon is intelligent, a bit of a journeyman, a guy who knows how to do his job and does it well. Luukkonen is the goalie you can dream on, the one you can watch at his best and think might be able to lead a team to a Stanley Cup simply on the back of his own hot streak.