One overturned call was the deciding factor in tonight's game, as the Kings were left chasing a 4- 1 loss to the Sabres.
The Los Angeles Kings (22-17-13) outshot the Buffalo Sabres (31-17-5) and had a lot of chances to make this a closer game, but a pair of unlucky calls against them and a strong night from Sabres goaltender Alex Lyon and forward Alex Tuch proved too much to overcome.
Despite playing a much better second period after a poor first, LA was unable to dig itself out of the hole at KeyBank Center, falling 4-1 in Buffalo.
Once again, struggling early on in regulation and falling in a 2-0 hole, doomed the Kings to make any run against the home team.
First Period: Sabres Capitalize
Buffalo struck first in the opening period. A pass from Ryan McLeod intended for Alex Tuch deflected off the Kings and slid past Darcy Kuemper for a fluky goal, giving the Sabres the early 1-0 lead.
The Sabres added to that lead a few minutes later after a faceoff win. Matttias Samuelsson stepped from the point and beat Kuemper's glove, extending the lead 2-0 despite LA holding the edge in shots made through the first 20 minutes of regulation.
Los Angeles had a lot of chances late in the period to score, but the defense from Lyon was excellent, with him on the crease for Buffalo, turning aside several chances the Kings had.
Second Period: Controversial Call
The Kings appeared to get on board early in the second period when Alex Laferriere knocked off the puck past Lyon, cutting the deficit to one, but the goal was overturned after an extended review due to goalie interference between Corey Perry and Lyon.
It was a big call: looking back on the play, it seemed the goalie had enough time to recover, but the call was upheld, and instead of 2-1, the score remained 2-0, and gave the Sabres a chance to extend it further in the second period.
Moments later, Tuch finished from the slot off a point shot to extend the score 3-0 just like that, after the overturned goal from the Kings.
Near the end of the second period, Los Angeles finally broke through on the power play when Kevin Fiala fed Adrian Kempe off the high deflection on the power play to score, cutting the deficit to 3-1.
Third Period: Buffalo Seals It
Down two entering the third, the Kings were desperate for a big play to get back in the game, but they never made it, as the Sabres' defense and goaltender made it tough for Los Angeles.
The dagger came when Tuch converted on the empty-net goal, finishing with three goals on the night and torching the Kings' defense, winning 4-1.
The Kings finished with a 38-32 advantage in shots and a 30-9 advantage in hits, but Buffalo made most of its opportunities on the Kings' 20 giveaways, which led to extended zone time for the Sabres to convert on offense.
It was nice to see Kuemper play well tonight after missing the last game against the Detroit Red Wings, finishing with 28 saves despite giving up three goals.
The biggest play was obviously the overturned goal at a critical moment on Laferriere's shot, who would've made it 2-1 in the second period, but instead it was 3-0 after two periods, and Los Angeles was never able to recover from then on.
The Los Angeles Kings drop their first game in this six-game road trip and will look to clean up this loss on Saturday against the Philadelphia Flyers at 9:30 P.M. PT
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