Tage Thompson Scores Twice as Sabres Edge Kings 3-2

Tage Thompson wound up and one-timed a Jack Quinn pass past Anton Forsberg on the power play with 6:20 left, and that was the game. Thompson scored twice, including the go-ahead goal, as the Buffalo Sabres beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 on Saturday afternoon at Crypto.com Arena, per the AP recap.

That is three straight wins for Buffalo and a seven-game road point streak. The Sabres are now 7-4-3, while the Kings slide to 4-7-2 and are 1-4-0 at home.

Thompson Finished What Buffalo Started

Buffalo controlled long stretches of this one. Quinn put the Sabres up 1-0 on a power play at 6:35 of the first period for his eighth goal, and Thompson made it 2-0 with 4:22 left in the second on a snap shot set up by Zach Benson and Mattias Samuelsson.

Then the Sabres got sloppy. Some unnecessary penalties let Los Angeles back in. Corey Perry scored on a power play with 2:36 left in the second, a goal that stood only after the Kings won a coach's challenge to overturn a goaltender interference call. Andre Lee tied it just 1:29 into the third.

Thompson bailed them out, which is exactly what a team's best scorer is supposed to do in a tie game on the road. His go-ahead goal at 13:40 of the third was his 10th of the season, with Quinn and Rasmus Dahlin on the assists.

The Key Numbers

• Thompson: two goals, now 10 on the season.

• Quinn had a goal and an assist, and Benson and Dahlin each had two assists.

• Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 27 saves, while Forsberg stopped 28 for Los Angeles.

Kings Missing Kempe

Los Angeles played without top forward Adrian Kempe, who is day to day with an undisclosed injury. Martin Chromiak made his NHL debut in Kempe's spot on the first line and the power play. The Kings pushed in the second half of the game, but without Kempe they did not have enough to finish the comeback.

Buffalo heads home to host the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday. The Kings stay home and host the San Jose Sharks the same night.

My Smacktok lean: lean higher on Thompson's points against Ottawa. He is scoring at even strength and on the power play, and with 10 goals already, he is the guy Buffalo looks for when it needs one.