ROCHESTER – On Tuesday, Buffalo Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen walked into Blue Cross Arena, donned a gray Americans practice jersey and touched the ice in the 70-year-old rink for the first time since early in the 2022-23 season.

“It’s a weird but cool feeling,” a smiling Luukkonen, who will begin an AHL conditioning assignment tonight, told the Times Herald following Tuesday’s practice. “I have so many good memories here. It’s kind of like you haven’t been away for a day. It almost feels like that. It’s fun to be back.”

Luukkonen, 26, has experienced a lot of highs and lows in the nearly three years since the Sabres summoned him after goalie Eric Comrie suffered an injury in a mid-November game.

The oft-injured Finn seized his career-changing opportunity, morphing into the Sabres’ No. 1 goalie. At times, he has ranked among the NHL’s best netminders. Other times, however, he has struggled.

In March, he briefly lost his job to journeyman James Reimer at the end of a disappointing year.

That’s why this season, which effectively begins tonight for Luukkonen against the Syracuse Crunch, is so critical.

Veteran Alex Lyon, a career backup the Sabres signed to play behind Luukkonen and push him, has thrived in his absence, starting every game. The Sabres, who host the Detroit Red Wings tonight at KeyBank Center, also have Devon Levi, one of hockey’s top goalie prospects, in the pipeline.

Luukkonen, who earned a five-year, $23.75 million contract following his breakout 2023-24 campaign, must stay healthy and recapture the dynamic form that made him one of the league’s elite goalies down the stretch two seasons ago.

He tweaked a lower-body injury late in the summer, forcing him to miss the first week of training camp. After he returned, he suffered another lower-body injury early in his preseason debut Oct. 1 against the Pittsburgh Penguins and played just one period.

“I’m just happy to be playing hockey again,” said Luukkonen, who started practicing again last Tuesday.

Luukkonen hasn’t played a full game since April 15, his final appearance in an underwhelming season in which his goals-against average ballooned from 2.57 to 3.20 and his save percentage dropped from .910 to .887.

Does he feel rusty?

“It’s hard to say almost,” said Luukkonen, who on Tuesday was assigned to the Amerks. “I felt good playing that one period against Pittsburgh, but that’s really (a) small portion size. You can practice as much as you want, but (the) game’s always different.”

Coach Mike Leone said Luukkonen will play tonight, his first outing for the Amerks since Nov. 9, 2022. He said how his goalie feels following the game will determine how long the stint in the minors lasts.

“Given his history … everybody’s trying to be smart about the timeline,” Leone said. “Like, if he feels he needs another game, he could possibly get another game.”

Luukkonen, who has played 69 games for Rochester over parts of five seasons, said three weeks has given him enough time to recover.

“I feel great,” he said. “I feel confident to play. There’s nothing to complain about. We’ve been taking our time to make sure we don’t take any steps back with it, make sure I’m ready to play.”

While the starts and stops that accompany injuries can be frustrating, Luukkonen said he has remained in a good place mentally by thinking about how privileged he is to play hockey.

“I don’t think you don’t need to go any further than that,” he said. “I think I’m really happy to kind of wake up every day and just go to the rink. I love the guys I get to play with. Just overall, being part of this and being part of (the) NHL has always been a dream. So I think that’s kind of where I try to get my motivation.”

Luukkonen also draws motivation and a plan of attack for his game by simply worrying about himself.

“I think you almost try to take your own performance out of the team context,” he said. “So it goes both ways. So, let’s say the team had a not-so-great night, you kind of see what you still did right. But on the other hand, even there’s some nights the team plays well and you don’t, then you kind of want to see what you did wrong on those nights. …

“I think that’s kind of been the mindset that’s gotten me here, is just being critical to myself.”

NOTES: The Sabres on Tuesday assigned defenseman Zac Jones to the Amerks. He did not play in Monday’s 4-2 road loss to the Montreal Canadiens after being recalled Sunday. … The Red Wings have a five-game win streak and a six-point lead on the Sabres entering their first meeting with their Atlantic Division rival this season. … The Sabres had Tuesday off.