Kings in town tonight

December 11, 2018

⏰ 7 p.m. ? MSG ? WGR550

BUF	Stats	ANA
24-23-8	Record	22-26-27
15-9-4	Home	12-10-3
9-14-4	Away	10-16-4
1-2	Shootouts	5-1
157	Goals For	143
173	Goals Against	171
22nd	PP Rank	31st
30th	PK Rank	23rd

The Sabres look to end a five-game skid as they take on the Los Angeles Kings tonight at KeyBank Center. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.

Season series: This is the second and final meeting between these teams this season. The Sabres were victorious in the first meeting on October 20th, beating the Kings 5-1. That game catalyzed a streak for the Sabres where they would get points in 18 of the next 22 games. A hat-trick performance for Jeff Skinner also helped propel him on an absolutely torrid scoring streak.

Date	H/A	Time	Winner	GWG
Sat, Oct. 20th	Away	4 p.m.	W 5-1	Jeff Skinner
Tues, Dec. 11th	Home	7 p.m.	W 4-3 (OT)	Jeff Skinner

Buffalo notes: The Sabres have struggled mightily after their 10-game win streak. Their most recent loss, a 6-2 “stinker” to the Flyers was deemed “unacceptable” by players and warranted a team meeting with some “tough conversations.” Buffalo is 0-3-2 in their last five games but still sits comfortably in the standings with 38 points. Jack Eichel has found the back of the net of late as well, scoring two goals in each of his last two games.

#	Top Scorers	GP	Goals	Assists	Points
9	Eichel	68	36	42	78
23	Reinhart	69	22	28	50
68	Olofsson	54	20	22	42
26	Dahlin	59	4	36	40
55	Ristolainen	69	6	27	33

Los Angeles notes: The Kings are still an underachieving squad this season. With a record of 11-19-1, they are hovering around the basement of the NHL. They are also one of four teams to fire their coach this season, relieving John Stevens of his duties and replacing him with Willie Desjardins. The Kings cap off back-to-back games in Buffalo after a 3-1 loss to the Red Wings, in which they actually dominated the shot and possession metrics. Snakebitten, they’ve scored two or fewer goals in 12 of their last 17 games.

#	Top Scorers	GP	Goals	Assists	Points
15	Ryan Getzlaf	53	11	25	36
67	Rickard Rakell	49	13	20	33
33	Jakob Silfverberg	50	16	15	31
14	Adam Henrique	55	18	11	29
4	Cam Fowler	55	9	19	28

Starting goaltenders: The Kings will likely go with backup (and former Sabres prospect) Cal Petersen, while Carter Hutton may return to the crease for Buffalo after a brief absence with an upper-body injury.