Thompson's power-play winner sinks Kings as Sabres make it three straight
Tage Thompson scored twice — passing Rene Robert on Buffalo's all-time goals list — and the Sabres survived a blown 2-0 lead to win 3-2 in Los Angeles.
The Buffalo Sabres keep finding ways to bank points away from home. Saturday's 3-2 win over the Kings at Crypto.com Arena was their third straight victory and extended a run of earning at least a point in seven consecutive road games — the kind of early-season habit that decides playoff races months later.
Buffalo builds it, LA claws back
Jack Quinn opened on the power play at 6:35 of the first, snapping home from the slot off feeds from Zach Benson and Rasmus Dahlin. Tage Thompson doubled the lead late in the second from the right circle on a Benson pass. The Kings got on the board with 2:36 left in the second when Trevor Moore's one-timer deflected in off Corey Perry on the power play — a goal initially waved off for goaltender interference, then awarded after a successful LA challenge. Andre Lee tied it just 1:29 into the third from the crease on Scott Laughton's pass.
Thompson settles it
With 6:20 remaining, Thompson one-timed Quinn's cross-slot pass on the power play for the winner. His two goals give him 223 in 502 games with Buffalo, moving him past Rene Robert into ninth on the franchise's all-time list, per NHL.com. "If you're getting scoring chances, if you're generating offense, that means you're doing the right things," Thompson said. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 27 saves; Anton Forsberg stopped 28 for LA.
What it means
Buffalo (7-4-3) went 2-for-3 on the power play after converting just 1 of 19 chances over the previous six games — head coach Lindy Ruff credited the return of Rasmus Dahlin from a three-game injury absence. The Kings (4-7-2) fell to 1-4-0 at home and sit seventh in the Pacific, per ESPN, with Adrian Kempe out injured and Martin Chromiak making his NHL debut. "We weren't able to get that next goal," coach Peter Laviolette said.