Kings take big step back with blowout defeat
Coming off a shutout victory over Edmonton in interim coach Jim Hiller’s debut on Saturday night, the Kings fell back into the inconsistencies that led to the team firing Todd McLellan on Tuesday.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 33 shots for his fourth career shutout and Jordan Greenway scored twice and added an assist to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 7-0 rout of the Kings, dropping them to 4-9-6 in their past 19 games.
The Kings were flat and sloppy through most of an outing in which they provided little support for goalie David Rittich, who finished with 12 saves through two periods. He was replaced by Cam Talbot, who allowed two goals on seven shots.
The seven goals allowed were a season-worst for the Kings, who entered the day having allowed
BUFFALO, N.Y. »
127 goals, the second-fewest in the NHL. It was the most goals they had given up since a 9-8 overtime loss to Seattle on Nov. 29, 2022.
“I talked about the other night, the guys had fun. It was a fun night. No fun today. No fun,”
Hiller said. “Our identity is defense and D-zone coverage. That was nowhere near our identity tonight.”
Meanwhile, the Sabres and Luukkonen finally enjoyed the benefits of playing with a lead.
THE SCORE SABRES 7, KINGS 0
Up next: Kings at Devils, Thursday, 4 p.m., BSW
SUMMARY
Kings Buffalo
First Period:
1, Buffalo, Peterka 19 (Greenway, Bryson), 4:25. 2, Buffalo, Greenway 7, 16:58. 3, Buffalo, Okposo 11 (Cozens, Dahlin), 19:25 (pp). Penalties: Englund, LA (Tripping), 12:34. Dubois, LA (Tripping), 19:11.
4, Buffalo, Dahlin 14 (R.Johnson, Krebs), 6:42. 5, Buffalo, Benson 5 (Peterka, Bryson), 14:17. Penalties: Bryson, BUF (Holding Stick), 14:33. Jokiharju, BUF (Hooking), 20:00.
6, Buffalo, Tuch 15, 4:30. 7, Buffalo, Greenway 8 (Mittelstadt, Tuch), 7:50. Penalties: Clifton, BUF (Delay of Game), 19:21.
Los Angeles 5-13-15: 33. Buffalo
Second Period:
Third Period:
Shots on goal:
9-8-7: 24.
Power-play opportunities:
Buffalo 1 of 2.
Los Angeles, Rittich 6-2-3 (17 shots-12 saves), Los Angeles, Talbot 14-13-5 (7-5). Buffalo, Luukkonen 13-13-2 (33-33).
13,292 (19,070). T: 2:17.
Graham Skilliter, Francois St. Laurent. Linesmen: Brad Kovachik, Andrew Smith.
Goalies:
A: Referees: 0 3 0 2 0 — 0 2 — 7
Los Angeles 0 of 3.
The Sabres led 3-0 and were never threatened.
“I try to keep a level head. But I think when we’re (leading) it’s easier,” Luukkonen said in becoming Buffalo’s first goalie with four shutouts in one year since Ryan Miller’s six in 2011-12. “You can look at the stats and it’s a huge thing in a game, who gets the first goal. So I think that was one of the more important things today.”
The slow-starting Sabres flipped their script by scoring the opening goal for the first time in eight outings, and holding a lead after 20 minutes for the first time in 11.
Rasmus Dahlin, JJ Peterka and Alex Tuch had a goal and assist apiece, and Kyle Okposo and Zach Benson also scored.
Peterka opened the scoring 4:25 in when his initial shot from the slot was stopped by Rittich, but the puck leaked out behind the goalie. Peterka circled the net and swept in his own rebound.
Greenway scored 12 minutes later by intercepting Drew Doughty’s ill-advised pass through the middle of his own zone. Okposo scored a power-play goal by deflecting in Dylan Cozens’ shot with 35 seconds left in the first.