Trio of Kings score power-play goals in win over Sabres
LOS ANGELES -- Dustin Brown, Tyler Toffoli and Drew Doughty scored the first power-play goals of the season for the Los Angeles Kings in a 4-2 victory against the Buffalo Sabres at Staples Center on Saturday night.
Doughty scored on a slap shot off a faceoff win in the Los Angeles zone with two minutes remaining and four seconds after Evander Kane went to the penalty box for tripping Brown. Tanner Pearson added an empty-net goal.
Buffalo center Jack Eichel had tied the score 2-2 at 9:06 of the third period after receiving a pass from Kane from behind the net and scoring his rebound after Jonathan Quick made the initial save, one of 23 that helped him improve to 6-1-0 in his career against the Sabres (0-4-1).
Toffoli had given the Kings a 2-1 lead at 7:09 of the third when he took a pass from Jake Muzzin in the slot and scored in the top right corner.
The Kings (3-0-1) came in 0-for-16 on the power play this season, but Brown tied the score 1-1 on the first power play of the game for the Kings.
Doughty took a shot that Buffalo goalie Robin Lehner was unable to glove. Brown and teammate Jeff Carter both went after the rebound, but it was Brown who backhanded the puck between the pads of Lehner at 7:42 of the second period for his team-leading fourth goal of the season.
Los Angeles, which was outshot 8-2 in the first 14 minutes of the game, had a 21-16 edge after two periods.
Buffalo scored its first goal at Staples Center since Jan. 21, 2010 when Zemgus Girgensons finished off a 2-on-1 with Eichel at 15:45 of the first period.
The Kings tried to pinch Buffalo defenseman Jake McCabe along the boards in the Sabres zone, but he got the puck ahead to Eichel who had Girgensons to his left and Kings defenseman Alec Martinez in the middle. Eichel lifted a pass over the stick of Martinez and in front of Girgensons, who scored before Quick could slide over.
The goal ended a scoreless streak of 279:38 at Staples Center and gave the Sabres their first lead since a 3-2 shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens in the season opener.
NOTES: The Kings activated D Alec Martinez from injured reserve on Saturday and he had two assists in his season debut against the Sabres. Los Angeles placed RW Kyle Clifford on injured reserve retroactive to Wednesday, when he left in the second period of a 4-3 shootout loss to the Calgary Flames with an upper-body injury. ... Buffalo RW Kyle Okposo was scratched because of an illness and LW Matt Moulson filled his spot on the second line with LW Evander Kane and C Ryan O'Reilly.