BUFFALO, N.Y. — Things seemed pretty bad when Sabres starting goaltender Linus Ullmark went down. Carter Hutton was struggling and even went through a 12-game winless streak.
But lately things are looking up for Hutton as he has three wins in the last four starts. Part of that turnaround comes from staying positive even during another tough Sabres season which could be hard for some guys to do.
"I think the toughest thing sometimes is you can get surrounded with some of the pressures that come with it and the outside noise and just staying in the moment," Hutton said after practice on Wednesday. "There's a lot of positivity out there as well and I think that's what I try to revolve myself around."
Hutton showed resiliency and bounced back on Tuesday night against Detroit after the Red Wings scored 27 seconds into the game. He made 27 saves and stopped all 10 shots he faced in the third period.
"That game is a bit of a mirror image of his season actually where he showed us with some struggles in the middle of just being able to close out games together with us as a team," said head coach Ralph Krueger. "How he fought and worked hard off the ice and on the ice to get himself back into a space to compete at the level he's doing now and within that game yesterday it just shows the person he is. He's been a real important voice in our room."
"It's the best league in the world so there's gonna be times where even when you are working hard you're not getting the result so I think the biggest thing is just staying positive," Hutton said. "You can't really let things crack your shell."
Hutton was also thinking of his friend and former teammate, Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester after he collapsed last night on the bench with a cardiac episode.
RELATED: Sabres edge Red Wings 3-2