Preview: Sabres look to snap losing skid against Kings

Game 31

Buffalo Sabres (17-9-4) vs Los Angeles Kings (11-19-1)

Season series: 1-0 Sabres

• 10/20 - Sabres 5, Kings 1 (complete coverage)

Puck Drop: 7:00 PM | Keybank Center | Buffalo, NY

TV: MSG-B

Radio: WGR 550

SB Nation Kings blog: Jewels From The Crown

Know Your Opponent

Los Angeles Kings

Record: (11-19-1) | 23 PTS

Last 10: 4-6-0

Division Ranking: 8th in the Pacific Division

Conference Ranking: 15th in the Western Conference

PP: 27th (14.8%)

PK: 29th (74.4%)

What to Watch

1. A Depleted Kings Roster

At the moment, the Kings are absolutely decimated with injuries. Key players like Ilya Kovalchuk, Carl Hagelin, Kyle Clifford, Trevor Lewis, and Alec Martinez remain sidelined with various ailments. With names like Matt Luff and Brendan Leipsic filling top-six roles, the Kings’ already shallow talent pool on offense has diminished even further.

2. The Return (sort of) of Cal?

With Jonathan Quick playing last night against the Detroit Red Wings, there is a good chance that fans in attendance will see former-Sabres’ prospect, Cal Petersen between the pipes for Los Angeles. As a collegiate free-agent, Petersen elected not to sign with Buffalo (the team that drafted him). Fans in Buffalo did not take kindly to the decision, so if he does play, expect the boo birds to come out every time he makes a save.

3. Not a Must-Win, but a “Really Should Win”

Tonight is the perfect night for the Sabres to get back in the win column. They’re on home ice against a heavily-depleted team in the middle of an East Coast road-trip, who also just played in Detroit last night. There is no excuse not to come out of this one with a regulation victory. A beat-down of the last-place team in the Pacific Division should serve as a confidence boost for a team that was embarrassed by an inferior Philadelphia Flyers team on Saturday afternoon.

Buffalo Sabres

Forwards

Jeff Skinner - Jack Eichel - Sam Reinhart

Conor Sheary - Casey Mittelstadt - Kyle Okposo

Tage Thompson - Vladimir Sobotka - Jason Pominville

Evan Rodrigues - Johan Larsson - Zemgus Girgensons

Defense

Rasmus Dahlin - Zach Bogosian

Lawrence Pilut - Rasmus Ristolainen

Nathan Beaulieu - Matt Tennyson

Starting Goaltender: Linus Ullmark (Unconfirmed)

Los Angeles Kings

Forwards

Alex Iafallo - Anze Kopitar - Dustin Brown

Brendan Leipsic - Jeff Carter - Matt Luff

Nikita Scherbak - Adrian Kempe - Tyler Toffoli

Austin Wagner - Nate Thompson - Mike Amadio

Defense

Derek Forbort - Drew Doughty

Jake Muzzin - Oscar Fantenberg

Dion Phaneuf - Paul Ladue

Starting Goaltender: Cal Petersen (Unconfirmed)