(WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres walk into Los Angeles on Monday night with three-straight losses. Two of those losses were at home to the Carolina Hurricanes and Calgary Flames, where Buffalo played close to their worst games of the season.
Before the All-Star break, the Canes pasted Buffalo, 5-1. Meanwhile, in their first game after the bye week, the Flames overcame a 2-0 first period deficit, blowing the Sabres right out of the arena, 7-2.
The fact that Calgary dominated the final 40 minutes was really no surprise. The Flames had already played two games, and Sportsnet hockey insider Elliotte Friedman put out a stat where teams coming off break playing teams that had already played were 10-31.
Many ripped head coach Don Granato for excuse making, but facts are facts. The Tampa Bay Lightning lost 7-1 to the Florida Panthers on their first game back from break, while the Colorado Avalanche scored one goal in two games in losses to the Pittsburgh Penguins and Lightning (shut out 5-0).
Granato had the team leave right after Saturday afternoon’s game so he could have a tough practice in Los Angeles on Sunday to help the team get its skating legs back, and also get their minds straight.
As poorly as the Sabres play at home, they’re the exact opposite on the road this season. Buffalo is 10-1-2 against the Western Conference away from the arena. Buffalo is 9-1-2 in its last 12 road games, and 12-2-2 in their last 16.
Jourdon LaBarber from Sabres.com reports the lines in the morning skate remained jumbled. It looks like Rasmus Asplund and Kale Clague are going into the lineup for JJ Peterka and Jacob Bryson.
Peterka is showing no signs of breaking out of a scoring slump that sees him with no goals in 20 games, and just two points in 16 games.
Clague was drafted by the Kings in the second round of the 2016 NHL Draft. He played only 33 games with Los Angeles before being claimed off waivers by the Montreal Canadiens in December of 2021.
Craig Anderson has played just one of the last eight games, and two of the last 13. His last start was on Jan. 23 in Dallas, where he beat the Western Conference-leading Stars, 3-2 in overtime.
Overall, the veteran is 8-6-2 this season with a 2.73 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage.
By scoring against Calgary, Tage Thompson moved up to seventh in league scoring with a career-high 69 points. His 35 goals are now third in the league.
Despite only scoring two goals against the Flames, the Sabres moved up to second in league scoring with 3.67 goals-per-game. The Edmonton Oilers lead the league, averaging 3.72 goals per-game.
The Kings visited Buffalo in mid-December, and that was one of the Sabres' better home games. Granato really liked how patient his team remained as L.A. tried to take their speed away through the neutral zone.
For 40 minutes, it was 0-0 until the Sabres broke through in the third. Once Buffalo scored, the Kings had to open it up and the Sabres got to their game, scoring six third period goals and winning 6-0. Anderson was in goal for that game and recorded a 40-save shutout.
Overall, the Kings have been playing good hockey this season. They’re in a three-way tie with the Seattle Kraken and Oilers for second place in the Pacific Division. All three teams remain three points behind the Vegas Golden Knights.
Los Angeles was coming off losses to Tampa Bay and Carolina before beating the Pens their last time out, 6-0. L.A. had given up 10 goals in those two losses.
When Cal Petersen was sent down to the AHL, Pheonix Copley took over his spot with Jonathan Quick in Los Angeles.
While Copley's numbers aren't very good, like Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, he wins games. Copley is 16-3-1 this season with a 2.77 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage. Quick has been a disaster this season, which is why Copley has been playing.
Quick has only started six of the last 23 games.
Adrian Kempe has six goals in his last two games, and leads the Kings with 26 goals. All-Star Kevin Fiala is their leading scorer with 55 points in 54 games.
Join Brian Koziol and myself for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 9:30 p.m. EST when you’ll be hearing from Granato, Thompson and Luukkonen.
Losi and Gangi
