Sabres' Luukkonen irked by 'bullshit' non-call for goalie interference

Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen didn't agree with the NHL's decision to not call goalie interference on the Winnipeg Jets' opening goal Thursday.

The non-call ended up being a critical one, as the Sabres fell 3-2 in overtime for their fifth consecutive loss.

Luukkonen's glove was bumped by Gabe Vilardi on the play in question. Buffalo challenged unsuccessfully for goalie interference. The NHL ruled that contact came outside the blue crease.

"I feel like that's bullshit," Luukkonen said postgame. "There's no way I can make a save on that. I'm not that far out from the crease."

He added: "It's a quick game, it's hard for the refs to make the right calls always, but I have no chance to make a save on that play."

Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff agreed with his goaltender's sentiment.

"You don't know unless you challenge. It's that kind of grey (area). You don't know," Ruff said of the inconsistencies of goalie interference reviews. "I thought, just the fact that he wasn't allowed to make the save, that's an interference penalty."

Ruff added: "The guy that went through was out of the crease. Does that mean the guy can run the goalie over if he's out of the crease? No. It's always a hit-and-miss (situation)."

To make matters worse for the Sabres, they were on the wrong end of another review. Tyson Kozak thought he scored in his NHL debut before Winnipeg successfully challenged for goalie interference.

"It sucks for it to be disallowed," Kozak said. "It sucks even more for us to lose in overtime."