The Buffalo Sabres travel to the Staples Center to play the second game of a three game Western road trip as they go up against the Los Angeles Kings. Much like San Jose, the Sabres haven’t visited the Kings since October of 2011, where they came away with a 4-2 victory.
Buffalo will attempt to win back to back games for the first time since the last two games of 2012- 2013 season after their 5-4 shoot out victory over San Jose Tuesday night. The Sabres continued to struggle defensively against the Sharks as the four goals and 51 shots against would indicate, but their were several bright spots in the contest.
Drew Stafford picked up his second goal of the season and added an assist as he works his way out of his slump. Stafford was involved in many other scoring opportunities throughout the game and his offense is greatly needed if there is any hope in turning the season around. Along with Stafford, Tyler Myers’ game is also showing some positive signs. Myers has been getting more involved in the offense as well as stepping up his physical play in the defensive zone.
The Los Angeles Kings are coming into tonight’s contest well rested. Their last contest was a 4-3 loss to the Nashville Predators Saturday evening. With a rare four days off in between games, head coach Darryl Sutter should have his team ready to go. The Kings currently sit in the middle of the pack in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference.
The Los Angeles Kings have a very balanced scoring attack, but in order for the Sabres to have a chance at a victory they must keep a close watch on Anze Kopitar (15 points) and not let the 9th ranked power play of the Kings decide the game. This will be the Kings third of a four game home stand before hitting the East coast for five games, the first of which will be at the First Niagara Center against the Sabres.
The puck drops at 10:30 p.m. and can be seen on MSG.