Buffalo 3, Los Angeles 2
When: 1:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 21, 2019
Where: KeyBank Center, Buffalo, New York
Referees:
Dan O'Rourke, Graham Skilliter
Linesmen:
Jesse Marquis, James Tobias
Attendance:
17484
By Field Level Media
Rasmus Ristolainen, Marco Scandella and Victor Olofsson scored goals and the Buffalo Sabres defeated the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 on Saturday afternoon for their fifth straight home win.
Sam Reinhart had two assists and Linus Ullmark made 25 saves for the Sabres, who were coming off an 0-2-1 road trip.
Adrian Kempe and Dustin Brown scored, and Jonathan Quick made 25 saves for the Kings, whose six-game point streak (4-0-2) came to an end in the finale of their season-long six-game road trip.
The Kings scored first for the eighth straight game.
Blake Lizotte won the puck in the corner and maintained possession even after falling to his knees. He passed the puck from the left faceoff dot to Kempe coming down the middle and he scored on the one-timer for a 1-0 lead at 1:32 of the second period.
Kempe has a goal in three straight games.
Ristolainen tied it 1-1 at 7:35 of the second period.
Quick made back-to-back saves on forwards Jeff Skinner and Jimmy Vesey from in close, but the second rebound came out to his right and Ristolainen scored into the open side of the net.
Skinner's assist ended a six-game pointless streak, his longest in two seasons in Buffalo.
Scandella made it 2-1 at 16:48 of the second. His slap shot appeared to be going wide of the net, but hit Kings defenseman Drew Doughty in the shin and was redirected past Quick.
Olofsson scored into an empty net to make it 3-1 with 1:33 left.
The Kings kept Quick on the bench and Brown scored during the 6-on-5 to make it 3-2 with 38 seconds left.
Buffalo center Jack Eichel returned after he was a late scratch in a 6-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday because of an ongoing upper-body ailment, ending his 17-game point streak, one shy of the franchise record.
Eichel, who is second in the NHL with 24 goals, assisted on the empty-net goal.
Kings forward Trevor Lewis sustained an upper-body injury on his first shift and did not return.
Kings defenseman Kale Clague make his NHL debut and was a minus-2 in 17:57.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Los Angeles |
|
Buffalo |
|
Dustin Brown 1 |
Points |
Sam Reinhart 2 |
|
Dustin Brown 1 |
Goals |
Victor Olofsson 1 |
|
Drew Doughty 1 |
Assists |
Sam Reinhart 2 |
|
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
N/A |
|
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
|
Jonathan Quick .926 |
Save Percentage |
Linus Ullmark .926 |
|
Jonathan Quick 25 |
Saves |
Linus Ullmark 25 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| Los Angeles
|
27 |
2 |
0-2 |
3-3 |
6 |
31 |
| Buffalo
|
28 |
3 |
0-3 |
2-2 |
4 |
18 |
Upcoming Games
-
Buffalo will play their next game on the road against Ottawa. The Sabres have a W/L % of .471 after a win and .450 after a loss.
-
Los Angeles will play their next game at home against St. Louis. The Kings have a W/L % of .312 after a win and .455 after a loss.
For more information, contact us