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)