Postgame Report | Sabres open road trip with loss to Kings

LOS ANGELES -The Buffalo Sabres opened their three-game road trip through California with a 5-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings inside Crypto.com Arena on Monday.
The Kings pulled away during a four-goal second period, beginning with a shorthanded goal from Adrian Kempe and a power-play marker from Arthur Kaliyev.
"We give up a shorthanded goal after playing a solid game in a tough building and keeping it tight, 0-0," Sabres coach Don Granato said. "Not a lot of chances, not a lot of opportunities either way. So, a good effort to that point and then that lapse, and I didn't like our response afterwards. It was enough of a letdown there that we couldn't get back to much - to the game we needed to play, really - until the third period."
Buffalo finished the game 1-for-5 on the power play with four shots on goal and 1-for-3 on the penalty kill.
Dylan Cozens and Peyton Krebs scored third-period goals for the Sabres, who fell to 0-3-1 in their last four games. Craig Anderson made 23 saves to Pheonix Copley's 27.

How it happened

PERIOD 1
The Sabres earned a pair of power plays on penalties drawn by Zemgus Girgensons and Alex Tuch but were held without a shot on goal on both tries.
The Kings finished the scoreless period with a 7-5 edge in shots.
PERIOD 2
The Kings got on the board with a pair of goals on special teams, then tacked on another pair late to build a 4-0 lead.
Kempe went end to end shorthanded after a turnover in the Los Angeles zone and buried a wrist shot from the left circle to put the Kings on the board 9:20 into the period. Kaliyev scored a power-play goal 3:15 later after the Sabres were called for too many men on the ice.
Sean Walker and Matt Roy added goals 33 seconds apart to double the Kings' lead within the final two minutes of the period. Walker buried a shot from the point; Roy crept into the left circle and scored on a one-timer.
PERIOD 3
Viktor Arvidsson added insurance for the Kings in the form of a power-play goal 5:14 into the period. A carom off the end boards died behind Anderson in the blue paint and Arvidsson pushed it across the goal line.
Cozens beat Copley from the slot to end his shoutout with 9:44 remaining.

Krebs then redirected in a pass from Victor Olofsson on the power play with 4:51 to go to put Buffalo within three.

What we learned

1.The Sabres shuffled their forward lines during practice on Sunday and stuck with the following new-look trios to open the game:
Mittelstadt - Thompson - Okposo
Skinner - Cozens - Tuch
Asplund - Jost - Olofsson
Girgensons - Krebs - Quinn
The lines reverted to a more traditional look to start the third period, with Thompson returning to a line with Skinner and Tuch and Krebs centering Girgensons and Okposo.
"When you switch those things up, it's a whole team that has to focus and we need that," Granato said. "We need our guys to get back to that whole team (approach) and how we need to play as a team. We'll get it. They'll get it. There's no question about it. It's frustrating because it's not here yet, but it's gonna happen. There's no doubt about it with this group."
2. Kale Clague, a second-round draft pick by the Kings in 2016, entered the lineup on defense and returned to Los Angeles for the first time as a visiting player. He skated 13:17 with one shot, one hit and one block.
3.Cozens said the Sabres will focus on simplifying their approach on the power play.
"Sometimes we look for the perfect play, and a lot of power-play goals come off scramble and chaos," he said. "Whether it's me or Dahls, it's just throwing pucks on the net and getting those back and creating chaos off that and scoring off that, that's something we need to do more of I think. I have to start shooting more and being more of a shooting threat. Dahls can shoot some too."

Up next

The road trip continues Wednesday in Anaheim. Coverage on MSG begins at 9:30 p.m. The puck drops at 10 on MSG and WGR 550.