A perfectly reasonable game between the Sabres and Los Angeles Kings in Buffalo turned ugly for the Kings in the third period.
The two teams were scoreless through 40 minutes until the Sabres dropped a six spot on the Kings in a 6-0 win on Tuesday night.
Craig Anderson made 40 saves in the shutout win.
“I think it’s a great accomplishment as far as obviously, I get the individual credit for it, but it doesn’t go without the team in front of you doing the job that they’re supposed to do,” Anderson said. “I think kudos to the guys for paying the price tonight and doing the little things right, paying attention to details. The shutout’s just the result of us paying attention to the details.”
Buffalo improved to 13-14-2.
Tage Thompson hit for a double in the barrage for the Sabres.
“It took us a little bit to get to our game,” Thompson said. “I think we tried to force a little bit too much offense. … But, obviously, [Anderson] stands on his head, keeps us in the game for a while there, and then we find our game, and from there, we start rolling. I think that doesn’t happen if ‘Andy’s’ not standing on his head.”
LA dropped to 15-12-5.
“We didn’t have it in the third,” Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said. “We gave up six goals in the third period; [four] of them came after the 10-minute mark. That’ll tell you enough.”
Thompson and Victor Olofsson got the offense going for a 2-0 lead.
“The second goal was a chip in, simple, puck behind the opponent’s net,” Sabres coach Don Granato said. “Right away, [Rasmus] Asplund jumps in, change sides behind the net, Victor Olofsson’s open. And so, we pushed depth, we changed sides, which causes coverage change, find a pocket, and that was a very, very big goal in how it happened. That was something we weren’t willing to do enough early on. And then obviously, that opened up the game.”
Just 13 seconds after taking the two-goal lead, JJ Peterka made it 3-0.
“I don’t know if I can pinpoint anything,” Los Angeles captain Anze Kopitar said. “Bottom line is, we’ve got to figure it out and not allow that to happen.”
Alex Tuch and Thompson made it 5-0.
“We took six penalties in the last half of the game, a lot of them in succession, only one in our zone,” McLellan said. “So, that tells you enough about our game.”
Buffalo finished the outburst on a strike from Peyton Krebs for the 6-0 final.
“It’s incredible,” Thompson said of Anderson. “And especially at goalie, I mean, I think it’s such a taxing position on your body, and for him to be in the League this long and still be this successful is just a testament to obviously how good he is and how much work he’s put in over the years.”
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Pheonix Copley made 25 saves in the Kings loss.
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