Game 8
Buffalo Sabres (5-1-1) vs. Los Angeles Kings (2-4-0)
Puck Drop: 10:30 PM EST | Staples Center | Los Angeles, CA
TV: MSG-B
Radio: WGR 550
SB Nation Kings Blog: Jewels From The Crown
Know Your Opponent
Los Angeles Kings
Record: (2-4-0) | 4 PTS
Last 10: 2-4-0
Division Ranking: 8th in Pacific Division
Conference Ranking: 12th in Western Conference
PP: 27th (9.5%)
PK: 27th (65.0%)
What to Watch
1. Bouncing Back
Buffalo took a 2-0 lead late in the first period, looking to be firmly in the drivers seat. Unfortunately for the Sabres, that would be all their offensive output for the evening.
What proceeded would be ugly, to the tune of five unanswered goals.
A promising start turned into a nightmarish evening in Anaheim.
How Buffalo responds tonight after not only their first regulation loss of the season but an ugly loss will tell a lot about this team’s mettle early on.
2. Power Play Goalfsson
On Tuesday night, rookie Victor Olofsson scored a goal at 16:36 of the first period. If you can believe it, the goal was on the power play.
This power play goal extended Olofsson’s National Hockey League record of scoring his first eight goals on the power play.
Shockingly, Olofsson also leads the NHL with his six power play goals this season.
With Olofsson showing himself as quite the power play specialist shooting from the faceoff dot, one has to wonder how many goals he will amass this season with the man advantage.
3. Not-so Quick Start
Once the apple of the National Hockey League’s eye, Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick has fallen on some hard times, as the Kings continue to rebuild their franchise from the top down.
Quick, the franchise’s leader in games played and wins, has had a rough start to the 2019-20 season.
With three starts in the book, Quick is 0-3-0 with a 6.44 goals allowed average and a .793 save percentage
At 33 years old, Quick is under contract through the 2022-23 season. A deal that might come back to haunt the Kings if they can’t get Quick right.
Game Prediction
Buffalo Sabres (projected)
Forwards
Victor Olofsson – Jack Eichel – Sam Reinhart
Jeff Skinner – Marcus Johansson – Vladimir Sobotka
Zemgus Girgensons – Johan Larsson – Kyle Okposo
Jimmy Vesey – Casey Mittelstadt – Evan Rodrigues
Defense
Jake McCabe – Rasmus Ristolainen
Marco Scandella – Henri Jokiharju
Rasmus Dahlin – Colin Miller
Starting Goaltender (projected): Carter Hutton
Los Angeles Kings (projected)
Forwards
Alex Iafallo — Anze Kopitar — Dustin Brown
Jeff Carter — Blake Lizotte — Tyler Toffoli
Ilya Kovalchuk — Michael Amadio — Trevor Lewis
Kyle Clifford — Adrian Kempe — Austin Wagner
Defense
Drew Doughty — Ben Hutton
Sean Walker — Alec Martinez
Matt Roy — Joakim Ryan
Starting Goaltender (projected): Jonathan Quick