LOS ANGELES, CALIF. — The Los Angeles Kings hosted the Buffalo Sabres last night, Nov. 20, at Crypto.com Arena. Before puck drop, the Kings were 10-7-3 for 23 points, while the Sabres were 9-9-1 for 19 points.
David Rittich for LA and Ukko–Pekka Luukkonen for Buffalo would start in their respective nets.
1st Period
The Sabres were very aggressive during this period, as intense forechecking and plays bounced around Los Angeles’ zone. Rittich would see a lot of action in his zone, making nine key saves within the eleven minute mark.
Ontario Reign prospect Jacob Moverare saw a good look on net when he shot a rocket on Luukkonen near the blueline, but the netminder made a glove save to keep the game tied. At 6:59, Quinton Byfield was sent to the box for cross-checking, giving the Sabres their first power play of the game.
However, the Kings swiftly killed it off, as they only allowed one quality shot on their goaltender. Then at 1:25, the home team drew a penalty, when Adrian Kempe got hooked in a close-to-crease situation.
But the Sabres buckled down on the kill, displaying immense physical presence and stomping over the Kings by forcing turnovers — a complete repeat of the Kings’ PK scenario. After twenty minutes, the game was tied with no score.
2nd Period
In the second period, the Kings took a different turn and started to play much better in Buffalo’s zone. They managed to post six shots on Luukkonen, the same amount in the first period.
But compared to the visiting team, the Kings were more present offensively. The Sabres only had three shots on goal during this period, compared to nine in the first.
However, a main contributor of that would be due to taking three penalties during this frame, which set them back significantly. Nevertheless, the score remained at zero a piece respectively after forty minutes, as Buffalo carried 1:29 on a power play entering the final slate.
3rd Period
At 1:38, Sabres’ captain Rasmus Dahlin would rocket one at the blue line for Jason Zucker to tip it in and open up scoring on the PP. A goal was finally on the board, but plenty of hockey was left for the Kings to render something.
With two minutes remaining in the period, the Kings’ bench pulled Rittich for the extra skater to bring on 6-on-5. The team did a very disciplined job at keeping the play and formations in Buffalos zone in a desperate attempt to tie it up.
Passes were connecting and shots were buzzing off of Luukkonen. However, the home team would not be able to bury one in and make a last second tie. So therefore, the Sabres would shutout the home team with a small score of 1-0.
The Kings will return to the ice on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 4 p.m. at Crypto.com Arena to face the Seattle Kraken.
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