BUFFALO, N.Y. — Few teams have been able to stop the Buffalo Sabres in the past few months, and the Kings fared no better.
Alex Tuch had his fourth career hat trick to push his season goals total to 22, leading the surging Buffalo Sabres to a 4-1 victory over the Kings on Thursday night.
Alex Lyon made a season-high 37 saves for his 10th consecutive victory to break the franchise record set by Gerry Desjardins in December 1976.
Tuch reached 20-goal mark for the fourth straight season and fifth overall. Mattias Samuelsson also scored to help the Sabres (31-17-5) win for the 20th time in 24 games since Dec. 9. Jack Quinn had three assists and Ryan McLeod added two.
Adrian Kempe scored for the Kings (22-17-13), and Darcy Kuemper made 28 saves. The Kings had won three straight and earned at least a point in six in a row (3-0-3).
“We had some really good chances,” Kings coach Jim Hiller told NHL.com. “I think we had 10 chances in the second period. … I really liked how we played in the second, specifically. You just can’t get down by two. It’s hard for our team. … Our margin for error is just thin.”
Tuch opened the scoring with a power-play goal on a turnaround shot that went off Cody Ceci’s skate and past Kuemper at 7:14 of the first period.
Samuelsson’s goal came with 8:43 left in the opening period. His one-time slap shot from just inside the blue line, off a faceoff, trickled through Kuemper. Samuelsson extended his point streak to five games (a goal and seven assists for eight points).
The Kings’ Quinton Byfield hit the crossbar in the first minute of the second period.
Tuch’s second goal of the game came 6:29 into the second when he tipped in a shot by defenseman Bowen Byram, who fired the puck from the left point.
That came 1:19 after an apparent goal by the Kings’ Alex Laferriere was disallowed because of goaltender interference.
Kempe put the Kings on the scoreboard with a power-play goal 7:47 into the middle frame with a re-direction from the slot off a pass from Kevin Fiala.
“I’ve been trying to play in the middle a little bit more,” Kempe told NHL.com. “Been trying to get a little bit more tips and stuff like that on the puck, and they had a guy break their stick so I just tried to improvise and hop in the middle there. Kevin made a great play and [Corey Perry] had a great screen in front.”
Tuch completed his hat trick with an empty-net goal with a minute left. It was Buffalo’s second consecutive hat trick. Defenseman Rasmus Dahlin scored three goals in Tuesday’s 7-4 road win against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“We’re coming in with a lot of confidence,” Tuch told NHL.com. “Everybody’s coming in trying to prove themselves, and we’re trying to prove as a team that we’re legit. We’re not just gonna go for the playoffs, we’re gonna go for the [Stanley] Cup, and that’s our goal: get better each and every day.”
NOTES
Kempe extended his point streak to five games (three goals, two assists). … Brandt Clarke’s assist was his 20th of the season to become the seventh defenseman with multiple 20-assist seasons before their 23rd birthday.
UP NEXT
The Kings play at Philadelphia on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. PT.