At The Final Horn | Sabres unable to hold off Kings rally on the road

The Buffalo Sabres lost a 2-0 lead Sunday afternoon as the team fell to the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 at Staples Center.
Rasmus Asplund scored the first shorthanded goal of his career and Victor Olofsson added another at even strength, but the Kings chipped away to beat Buffalo in regulation.
Dustin Tokarski had a strong game, stopping 31 shots for Buffalo.
Carl Grundstrom, Anze Kopitar and Alex Iafallo jumpstarted Los Angeles' offense with goals. Jonathan Quick made 22 saves.
The Sabres' power play went 0-for-2 while the penalty kill was 5-for-6.
Buffalo took four minor penalties after going up 2-0. Jacob Bryson led the team with 4:48 of shorthanded ice time. Rasmus Dahlin led all Sabres skaters with 22:19.

How it happened

After a scoreless first period, Buffalo took the lead 3:07 into the second.
Asplund broke up the Kings' cycle at the Sabres blue line and skated in on a shorthanded 2-on-1 with Vinnie Hinostroza. Asplund cut in on goal and his shot beat Quick for his fourth goal of the year.
The Sabres gained a two-goal advantage when Olofsson and Bryson got in behind the Kings defense on the rush and Olofsson roofed one with his quick release at the 7:39 mark of the second. The play started when Bryson blocked by Adrian Kempe in
But exactly one minute later, Tobias Bjornfot blocked a shot of his own in the Kings zone and Los Angeles turned the play back up ice. Grundstrom ended up going hard to the net and beat Tokarski to make it 2-1.
The Kings tied things up 4:50 into the third.
Seconds after Colin Miller was called for hooking, the Kings won the draw and Kopitar's wrist shot from the left faceoff circle went through a screen by Dustin Brown and past Tokarski.
Los Angeles took the lead with 6:19 left in regulation when Iafallo scored in front on a feed from Bjornfot.

Roll the highlight film

Here's the game's opening goal:

Worthy of a mention

• Asplund's second-period goal gives him six points (4+2) in his last six games. It's the most productive six-game stretch of his NHL career.
• The line of Asplund, Olofsson and Tage Thompson has accounted for 11 of Buffalo's 24 goals this season and has scored at least one goal in six of the team's eight games in 2021-22.
• Brett Murray made his season debut for the Sabres, skating 11:06 with one hit.

Coming up

Buffalo's road trip continues Tuesday night when the team takes on the San Jose Sharks. Faceoff is set for 10:30 p.m. The game will stream exclusively on ESPN+ and Hulu. A subscription is required to watch.
San Jose is currently dealing with a handful of players who have entered the NHL's COVID-19 protocol, plus head coach Bob Boughner. The Sharks called up five players before their 2-1 overtime win over Winnipeg on Friday to fill out their roster.