The Kings fall to Sabres 3-2 at Crypto.com Arena. The Buffalo Sabres beat the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday afternoon as Tage Thompson scored twice, including the power-play winner with 6:20 left. Corey Perry gave the 16,161 fans something to remember: his first goal of the season made him, at 41 years and 168 days, the oldest player to score in Kings history. Andre Lee also scored. Martin Chromiak made his NHL debut on the top line, but the Kings went 1-for-5 on the power play and dropped to 4-7-2.
How the scoring went
- 1st, 6:35, BUF 1-0: Perry went off for slashing Rasmus Dahlin at 5:24, and Jack Quinn scored on the power play 71 seconds later. Zach Benson and Dahlin assisted.
- 2nd, 15:38, BUF 2-0: Thompson made it 2-0 with 4:22 left in the period, set up by Benson and Mattias Samuelsson.
- 2nd, 17:24, BUF 2-1: With Ryan McLeod off for slashing Joel Armia, Perry deflected the puck in from the front of the net. Trevor Moore and Brandt Clarke had the assists. The goal was first waved off for goaltender interference, but the Kings challenged and won.
- 3rd, 1:29, 2-2: Lee tipped in a centering pass from Scott Laughton, and Armia had the second assist. It was Lee’s first goal of the season.
- 3rd, 13:40, BUF 3-2: Mikey Anderson was called for tripping Josh Doan at 13:29. Buffalo called its timeout, and Thompson scored 11 seconds into the power play from Quinn and Dahlin.
Corey Perry makes Kings history
The goal broke a record that had stood since April 14, 1992, when Larry Robinson scored at 40 years and 317 days. According to the Kings’ postgame notes, Perry has 18 goals since he turned 40. Alex Ovechkin is the only other active player with that many; he has 33. His nine shots tied the third-most of his 1,475-game career.
Perry was asked about the challenge, and he admitted the goaltender interference call was close. “Did I feel the goalie stick? Yeah. Did I think he had time to get set and reset? Yes. It’s one of those, it can go either way. I’ve had a lot go against me, though.” Coach Peter Laviolette said “there was a complete reset by the goaltender” before the puck went in.
Martin Chromiak’s debut
NHL.com’s Friday projection had Chromiak as a scratch and had Adrian Kempe playing. Kempe had skipped Friday’s practice for maintenance and was ruled out at Laviolette’s morning availability, and ESPN lists him as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. That moved Chromiak onto the top line with Artemi Panarin and Alex Laferriere. He played 17:31, including 4:27 on the power play, and had one shot. The Kings say he is the 11th Slovak skater to play for the team.
“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.” Laviolette liked what he saw: “He brought speed to the lineup… he’s got a release that could score goals. I thought he had chances where he could have had two or three goals tonight.”
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and the 80 pucks
Laviolette’s frustration was about finishing, not effort. “I thought our guys showed up and competed hard. 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. Not being able to get that next goal, obviously chasing the game a little bit as well, that’s never a good thing… We didn’t get it done. So, frustrated again.”
The box score supports him. Los Angeles had 29 shots on goal, 20 missed shots and 30 blocked, for 79 attempts. The 30 blocks were a season high for Buffalo, according to Sabres.com, which also cites Stathletes data giving the Kings 4.01 expected goals. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 27 saves on 29 shots for his fourth win. That included a first-period stop on Erik Haula’s breakaway. Anton Forsberg started over Darcy Kuemper and made 28 saves on 31 shots.
The late power play that got away
Joel Edmundson and Peyton Krebs got tangled up in the third period. When Edmundson hit Krebs with 3:39 left, Thompson dropped his gloves and went after him. Thompson got the only penalty, a roughing minor, so the Kings went to the power play with a chance to tie it. Forsberg went to the bench for an extra attacker, but they couldn’t tie it. Krebs was then called for slashing Clarke as time ran out.
“I felt like we needed to make little plays, little passes and we couldn’t get that done,” Laviolette said. “They pressured pretty good in those areas, but that’s an opportunity to make a difference, get back in the game, possibly push it to overtime. We didn’t get it done.” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff defended Thompson: “He’s looking after his teammate. He thought it’s a bad hit… You’ve got to kill this off.” Thompson’s view: “A huge kill to bail me out there.”
Special teams decided the game. Buffalo went 2-for-3 with the man advantage. The Kings’ penalty kill entered at 64.9% (31st, per NHL.com), and Laviolette said, “We’ve got to get better.”
By the numbers
- Shots: Buffalo 31, Los Angeles 29. The Kings had 14 shots in the second period and 9 in the third.
- Faceoffs: The Kings won 34 of 53 (64.2%). Quinton Byfield won 15 of 21.
- Hits: Los Angeles 28, Buffalo 15. Giveaways: Los Angeles 14, Buffalo 8.
- Clarke: Two days after being boarded by Hayden Hodgson, he played 20:07 and picked up his seventh assist. He has five points in his last six games.
- Thompson: He has 10 goals, five of them in his last two games. His 223rd career goal moved him past Rene Robert for ninth in Sabres history, per NHL.com.
What’s next
The Kings are 1-4-0 at home and 1-1 on their seven-game homestand. Buffalo (7-4-3) has won three straight and swept its California games. The Kings have Sunday off and practice Monday at 11 a.m. in El Segundo. They host the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. PST. Kevin Fiala, Mats Zuccarello, Alex Turcotte and Jakub Dvorak remain on injured reserve.
Notes and conflicts
- Lee’s goal: The Kings’ notes call it his “first career power-play goal,” but ESPN has Los Angeles 1-for-5 on the power play, and the AP lists only Perry’s goal as a power-play goal. Dahlin’s cross-checking minor started at 19:20 of the second and ended at 1:20 of the third, nine seconds before Lee scored. We are treating it as an even-strength goal.
- Kempe: The injury is officially undisclosed. Whether he plays Wednesday is unconfirmed.
- Goalie decision: The LA Kings Insider had leaned toward Kuemper starting, and no reason was given for Forsberg getting the net.
- Missed call: The LA Kings Insider says Buffalo got away with an interference play just before Anderson’s trip. That is the outlet’s view, not an official ruling.
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