Sabres finish strong road trip with win at Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California (WGR 550) - An already strong road trip ended on a high note for the Buffalo Sabres.

Visiting the Los Angeles Kings on Halloween, the blue and gold clinched seven of the possible eight points away from home. It was thanks to another offensive display from Tage Thompson and Jack Quinn, and encouraging goaltending from Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen inside Crypto.com Arena.

The Sabres got the scoring started 6:35 into the first period of play, with yet another powerplay goal. Jack Quinn cut nicely to the slot, and ripped his eighth goal of the season past goalie Anton Forsberg.

After some serious early-season struggles on the man advantage, the blue and gold seem to have gotten out of the funk. Quinn's goal was the third powerplay tally on this three-game trip through California. Over Buffalo's seven total opportunities, that totals out to a 42.9% clip.

The lead became 2-0 with 4:22 left in the middle stanza, when a red-hot Tage Thompson struck for a fourth-time in his last two games. Zach Benson gained the Kings' zone, dished things off to Thompson off on his right-wing side, and he made his ninth deposit of the year for the blue and gold.

Los Angeles finally solved Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in the late stages of the second, on a powerplay of its own. Corey Perry, being the veteran net-front presence he is, was able to re-direct the puck behind Luukkonen with his skate.

Initially, though, the goal was waved off for goaltender interference. During his travels to the blue paint, Perry bumped Luukkonen and officials, at first, saw that as impeding Luukkonen's ability to get to his left post.

Kings head coach Peter Laviolette challenged the call, and after a short review it was overturned. Los Angeles had a good goal, and pulled within one ahead of second intermission.

The home team grabbed a lot of momentun at the tail end of the second period. Factor in Perry's goal, and play had severely swayed in the Kings' favor. Their uptick in play paid off in spades for a second time early in the third, as Los Angeles caught Buffalo napping at the end of a Sabres' penalty kill.

Rasmus Dahlin's cross-checking minor had just expired when Kings forward Andre Lee was left alone in front of Luukkonen. Coverage was blown at the end of the 5-on-4 situation, and Lee made the blue and gold pay. For Lee, it was his first goal of the season. For the game, it was now a 2-2 contest with 18:31 left in regulation.

The game-tying goal came a little over 12-minutes later, and it favored the Sabres. The two earlier goal-scorers, Quinn and Thompson, teamed up on yet another powerplay goal to grab a 3-2 third period lead. Quinn's slick, east-to-west feed to Thompson on the man advantage got Thompson into double digits in goals. It was Tage's fifth goal since Thursday night at Anaheim.

That would stand as the eventual game-winner, as the Sabres were able to withstand the final push from the Kings in the dying minutes.

Luukkonen made 27 saves on 29 shots against in the victory.

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SCORING RECAP:

First Period:

BUF: 6:35 - Jack Quinn (8) PPG (Zach Benson, Rasmus Dahlin)
LAK: NONE

Second Period:

BUF: 15:38 - Tage Thompson (9) (Zach Benson, Mattias Samuelsson)
LAK: 17:24 - Corey Perry (1) PPG (Trevor Moore, Brandt Clarke)

Third Period:

BUF: 13:40 - Tage Thompson (10) PPG (Jack Quinn, Rasmus Dahlin)
LAK: 1:29 - Andre Lee (1) (Scott Laughton, Joel Armia)

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STATS OF THE GAME

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Bluestar Home Services Three Stars of the Game:

1.) Tage Thompson - BUF
2.) Jack Quinn - BUF
3.) Corey Perry - LAK

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What's Next:

The blue and gold come home to host the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday, November 4. Puck drop at Keybank Center is set for 7:30 p.m. ET with Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on the call on the radio home of the Sabres - WGR.