Los Angeles Kings vs Buffalo Sabres Match Player Stats On Mar 06, 2022

Andreas Athanasiou scored twice, Cal Petersen crafted his second shutout this season and the Los Angeles Kings earned a 3-0 victory Sunday afternoon over the host Buffalo Sabres.

Athanasiou notched his 100th career goal in the second period, then he and Dustin Brown each scored into an empty net in the final minute as Los Angeles won its second straight and improved to 20-6-3 against the Eastern Conference.

On a fairly light day of work, Petersen had 19 saves in his third career shutout, with his other this season on Jan. 8 with 21 saves against the Detroit Red Wings.

The Kings are 2-1-0 on their four-game road trip, which will conclude Monday at Boston.

The Sabres were coming off consecutive games when they scored five goals in each and lost for the first time in three games ahead of a visit from the Florida Panthers on Monday. Dustin Tokarski recorded 29 saves for Buffalo.

Both sides went 0-for-1 on the power play.

The Kings won the first season's matchup -- a 3-2 victory on Oct. 31 -- but were facing a healthier bunch of Sabres than when the clubs met on the West Coast.

The Sabres failed on the first period's only power play but did manage to withstand the Kings' 15-9 advantage in shots on goal in the opening 20 minutes.

Buffalo's Tage Thompson ended the period with the best scoring chance in the final 10 seconds, but Petersen slid over to deny his one-on-one backhanded attempt and keep the match scoreless.

The play opened up in the second period, with both Petersen and Tokarski standing tall until Athanasiou scored at 16:55 into the frame.

Reinserted into the lineup in the absence of Brendan Lemieux (lower body), Athanasiou received a breakout pass from Mikey Anderson, leading to a two-on-one rush with linemate Blake Lizotte. Athanasiou kept the puck and pocketed his sixth goal of the season.

Los Angeles' Viktor Arvidsson and Buffalo's Alex Tuch were both injured within a three-minute span in the third period and did not return after heading to their respective dressing rooms.

Tokarski left the ice for the extra skater with 90 seconds left in regulation, with Athanasiou and Brown each scoring goals to secure the victory.

--Field Level Media