LOS ANGELES -- Tage Thompson made the difference twice, and the Buffalo Sabres walked out of Crypto.com Arena with a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday afternoon.
Thompson scored two of Buffalo’s three goals, including the one that settled it late in the third period. The Sabres improved to 7-4-3 for 17 points and picked up their third straight victory.
Los Angeles spent most of the afternoon chasing the game. Buffalo opened the scoring 6:35 into the first period when Zach Benson and Rasmus Dahlin set up Jack Quinn on the power play. Thompson then pushed the lead to 2-0 15 minutes into the second, with Benson collecting his second assist and Mattias Samuelsson earning his first.
The Kings finally broke through after a frustrating stretch that had them firing pucks from everywhere. Corey Perry appeared to score his first goal of the season on a power play, with Trevor Moore and Brandt Clark assisting, but the officials waved it off for interference. LA challenged the call and got the goal back, giving Perry the marker and giving the Kings some life heading into the third.
That momentum carried over early in the final period. Andre Lee tied the game for the first time this season, finishing a setup from Scott Laughton and Joel Armia.
The tie didn’t last. Mikey Anderson was whistled for tripping 13:40 into the third, and Thompson cashed in on the power play to put Buffalo back on top for good.
Los Angeles still had chances late, including two power-play opportunities in the final four minutes, but couldn’t find the equalizer.
Kings coach Peter Laviolette said after the game, “I thought our guys showed up and competed hard,” Laviolette said in postgame interviews. “I thought we generated a lot of offense.
We put a lot of pucks at their net, I think we put 80 pucks at their net and (were) unable to get that next goal … I thought we had chances to win the game. We didn’t get it done so - frustrated again.”
Anton Forsberg stopped 28 shots for the Kings and blocked 19 shots, while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 27 saves and had 30 blocked shots for Buffalo.
Saturday also brought a milestone moment for Martin Chromiak, who made his NHL debut and came away smiling despite the result. Laviolette said Chromiak brought speed and thought his line did a good job getting shots to the net. Chromiak said the biggest differences between the AHL and NHL were the speed, the passing and everything else.
“It’s a dream come true for me,” Chromiak said. “Obviously not happy with the result but I’m happy to get the first one (NHL game).”
Asked about the Kings’ missed chances on the power play late, Laviolette said:
“I felt like we needed to make little plays, little passes and we couldn’t get that done. They (Buffalo) pressured pretty good in those areas.
But you’re right, that’s an opportunity to make a difference, get back in the game, possibly push it to overtime. We didn’t get it done.”
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