LOS ANGELES- Jason Zucker scored the only goal to give the Sabres a 1-0 victory over the Kings.
After two first periods, the game was scoreless, and both teams were neck and neck.
A minute into the third period, Zucker scored a goal that gave the Sabres a boost. In this slow offensive affair, the Kings were not able to respond.
Throughout the game, both teams showed aggressive defense, but the Sabres were a little more effective.
Buffalo and Los Angeles accumulated 19 hits, but the blocks were the difference maker. The Sabres tallied 18 blocked shots, which was four more than the Kings.
The penalty kill was also a strong defensive aspect for the Sabres. The Kings had five power play opportunities but couldn’t convert them into a goal.
“At the end of the day I think we had a good enough chances to put the puck in the net,” Adrian Kempe said. “Obviously, we talked about it that after the first 2 power plays, that we maybe wanted to shoot a little more.”
The Kings had two more power plays and four more than the Sabres. However, Uuka Pekka Luukkonen shut down any scoring chance the Kings had.
The Sabres’ goaltender had a .1000 save percentage and saved all 23 shot attempts.
Although the Sabres defense was strong, there was also a good defensive showing from the Kings as well.
Despite the loss, Phillip Danault and Vladislav Gavrikov had a strong defensive showing for the Kings. Danault and Gavrikov both recorded three blocked shots each.
On Saturday, the Kings will hope to bounce back against the red-hot Kraken at Crypto.com Center.
