Kings 2, Sabres 0
LOS ANGELES -- Center Mike Richards had a goal and an assist and goaltender Jonathan Quick recorded his first shutout of the season with a 19-save performance as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Buffalo Sabres 2-0 on Thursday night.
The victory was the fourth in the last six games for the Kings (10-6-0) while Buffalo failed in its bid for consecutive wins, something it has yet to accomplish this season.
Los Angeles won the battle of special teams, scoring two power-play goals while their 21st ranked penalty-killing unit held Buffalo scoreless on four power plays.
The Kings opened the scoring at 19:24 of the first period when Richards tipped in defenseman Jake Muzzin's shot from the point. Richards' goal was his fourth of the season and was notched with Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers in the box for interference.
Los Angeles doubled its lead at 12:10 of the second period. Holding four-on-three advantage, center Anze Kopitar batted home a cross-ice feed from defenseman Drew Doughty. Richards recorded his second point of the game with the secondary assist.
Buffalo had little offensive flow through the first two periods, managing only 12 shots against Quick that included three power-play opportunities.
The Sabres best chance to score was late in the second period, but Quick stopped forward Corey Tropp from in close with less than six minutes remaining.
Netminder Jhonas Enorth made 26 saves in the loss for the Sabres (3-13-1).
The Kings limited the Sabres to seven shots on goal in a scoreless final period for a win that helped them keep pace with Vancouver and Dallas, which won earlier in the evening.
NOTES: Buffalo finishes up their three game California road trip in Anaheim on Friday evening. ... The Sabres are the first NHL team to dress four rookies in a game since the Winnipeg Jets did it March 30, 1996. ... Buffalo and Los Angeles have played 114 regular season games since 1970 without either team being shutout at home. ... Kings G Jonathan Quick, a Vezina Trophy Finalist in 2012, entered the game with a .896 save percentage that ranks him 53rd among NHL goaltenders. ... The injury list is growing for Los Angeles. In addition to missing C Jarret Stoll and RW Jeff Carter, D Matt Greene missed his first game of the season with an undisclosed injury. ... C Linden Vey, recalled this past Saturday from the Kings' Manchester AHL affiliate, made his NHL debut in favor of veteran C Colin Fraser.
