Sabres' Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen faces big questions after allowing nightmare goal vs. Bruins

Sabres' Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen faces big questions after allowing nightmare goal vs. Bruins originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

It's the stuff of a goalie's nightmare.

The puck was floated harmlessly toward Buffalo Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, but he didn't quite get close enough to the flip into the zone from the Boston Bruins' Morgan Geekie.

It had a bit of spin on it, and so when it hit the ice in front of Luukkonen, it actually took a slight sideways bounce, evaded the Buffalo goalie and went into the net.

It was the most improbable and ugly of goals for the Bruins, turning a 1-0 advantage into 2-0 on Tuesday night and raising a ton of immediate questions.

The Sabres didn't pull UPL then but did eventually for Alex Lyon en route to a 4-0 deficit in a 4-2 loss to even their playoff series at a game apiece.

In Game 1, Luukkonen had been huge on stopping multiple breakaways to keep the Sabres in it before their epic comeback victory.

In Game 2, neither Luukkonen nor the rest of the Sabres felt quite as sharp.

Now the goalie and his entire team have to figure out how to bounce back after what in many ways was an embarrassing playoff night on their home ice.

They'll head to Boston for Game 3, and Luukkonen seems likely to continue starting despite the rough outing. He's got the best upside in Buffalo's goal, and that's what you have to chase in the postseason.

But everything becomes a bit more uncertain for UPL. He'll now have to firmly prove that he's up for the task, because if this series never turns back around for the Sabres, that nightmare goal will feel like the moment it all shifted for good.