Buffalo, New York: Anze Kopitar and the Los Angeles Kings took advantage of the Buffalo Sabres’ second-period meltdown to snap a three-game skid and keep pace in the tightly contested Western Conference play-off race.
Kopitar and rookie Michael Amadio each had two goals in a 4-2 win, which the Kings broke open by scoring three times on consecutive shots over a span of 5:35 on Saturday afternoon.
“I think our second period was huge, not just getting the three goals but just dictating the game,” said Kopitar, who upped his team-leading total to 25 goals. “I thought [today] was a step in the right direction, but we’ve got to continue going.”
Los Angeles improved to 31-22-5 and vaulted into 10th place in the West, a point ahead of the idle Colorado Avalanche.
The win was also the Kings’ first in Buffalo since a 4-1 victory on February 21, 2003. Los Angeles had gone 0-6-2 in their previous eight trips to Buffalo, and was 1-12-2 plus a tie in their previous 16 visits dating to the start of the 1993-94 season.
“I don’t think we were worried about the 15-year drought in here, but we had a three-game slide that we certainly wanted to stop,” Kopitar said.
Frustration boiled over for the Eastern Conference’s last-place Sabres.
The press box shook with the loud sound of a door slamming, and Sabres general manager Jason Botterill was spotted leaving the team’s booth shortly after Kopitar scored his first goal to put the Kings up 2-0.
Sabres forward Jason Pominville wasn’t surprised upon being informed of what happened.
“I would’ve probably done the same thing,” Pominville said of Buffalo’s lackadaisical effort through 40 minutes.
“The one thing we control is our effort and the energy we bring,” he said. “Some nights, we’re just not bringing it. I really don’t get it.”