The quest for a goal is over, but the quest for a second win continues as the Buffalo Sabres looks to snap a three-game losing streak when they visit the Los Angeles Kings tonight. The game is the second in two nights for the Sabres, who are in the midst of a four-game road trip that has them traveling across California before finishing up in Toronto.
Buffalo enters tonight’s contest following a 4-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks less than 24 hours ago. Tyler Ennis’s third period tally (his third of the season) ensured that the Sabres avoided an embarrassing franchise record of being shut out three games in a row, but that single goal was nowhere near enough to fend off one of the NHL’s best.
Unfortunately for the Sabres this evening, they take on the NHL’s absolute best from last season. The defending Stanley Cup champions Kings look to be in similarly fine form as they were in the playoffs earlier this year, sitting at second in the Pacific Division with a 4-1-1 record.
After opening the season with a pair of losses, the Kings have rebounded to rattle off four straight victories, where they’ve let in one goal or less in each contest. Two-time Stanley Cup champion and former Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jonathan Quick has been a major reason for Los Angeles’s success. The Connecticut-born goaltender has averaged an astounding .980 save percentage over the course of the Kings’ last four wins, including a shutout over the Saint Louis Blues.
Maybe more incredible is the workload that Quick was tasked with in those games. The Kings allowed a total of 146 shots in those games, and Quick handled all but three of them.
If his stellar play continues, it will be a challenge once again for Buffalo to find the back of the net. Their power play may not help them much, either; the Sabres are just one of just three teams in the NHL without a goal with the man advantage. The Sabres have failed to connect on any of their 24 power plays, a league worst.
Should Buffalo shock the world tonight and take down the defending Stanley Cup champions, fans will have to stay up late to see it happen. It’s another puck drop scheduled for 10:30 EST tonight as the game hails from the West coast. Fans can catch the action on MSG or listen in through WGR 550.