Team Records:
Sabres: 12 - 14 - 2 (26 pts)
Kings: 15 - 11 - 5 (31 pts)
Kings Notes:
Alex Iafallo returns to his home state to play the Sabres for the ninth time in his career. Iafallo grew up in Eden, N.Y., 30 miles south of Buffalo. Iafallo (73-102=175) has the third-most points among undrafted skaters from New York state behind Joe Mullen (502-561=1,063) and Billy Burch (136-60=196).
The LA Kings have scored 32 first period goas this season. Only Vegas (35) and Buffalo (34) have scored more.
Trevor Moore (62) is tied for the fourth-most shots on the road by any player in the league.
LA Kings captain Anze Kopitar has a team-leading five goals in the month of December, which is tied for fifth-most in the league and sits two behind Buffalo's Tage Thompson (7) and Edmonton's Connor McDavid (7) for league lead.
Sabres Notes:
The Sabres are the only team in the Eastern Conference with a positive goal differential (+6) on the season not currently in a playoff spot.
The Blue Jackets are 4-3-0 against the Pacific Division this season.
The Sabres power play ranks 4th in the NHL (28.0%).
The Blue Jackets penalty kill ranks 28th in the NHL (70.5%).
Who to Watch:
Sean Durzi, who's 19 points (4-15=19) sits third this season among defensemen from the 2018 NHL Draft, trailing only Buffalo's Rasmus Dahlin (9-23=32) and Vancouver's Quinn Hughes (0-25=25).
Tage Thompson, who ranks third in the NHL in goals (21), trailing only Connor McDavid (25) and Jason Robertson (23). Just last week, Thompson scored five goals against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
