Thompson scores two more, Sabres edge Kings for third straight win

LOS ANGELES -- Tage Thompson scored twice, including the go-ahead power-play goal at 13:40 of the third period, and the Buffalo Sabres won their third straight game with a 3-2 victory against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.

Thompson put Buffalo back ahead 3-2 with a one-timer in the left circle off Jack Quinn’s cross-slot pass after blowing a 2-0 lead.

“I think, obviously, you want to try to stay as consistent as you can, but most of the time, I feel like you try not to focus on the results, just the process,” said Thompson, who was coming off a hat trick and two assists in a 7-6 win at the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday. “If you’re getting scoring chances, if you’re generating offense, that means you’re doing the right things.”

Quinn had a goal and an assist, and Zach Benson and Rasmus Dahlin each had two assists for the Sabres (7-4-3), who extended their road point streak to seven games (4-0-3). Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 27 saves.

“I think the biggest thing right now is we have to be able to string points together, string good games and wins together,” Luukkonen said. “I think we’ve kind of done it all this trip, and there’s been low-scoring games, high-scoring games, and we’ve been able to come out on top.”

Corey Perry and Andre Lee scored for the Kings (4-7-2), who couldn’t build off their first home win Thursday and dropped to 1-4-0 on home ice. Anton Forsberg made 28 saves.

“I thought our guys showed up and competed hard,” Los Angeles coach Peter Laviolette said. “I thought we generated a lot of offense, put a lot of pucks at the net. We weren’t able to get that next goal.”

Quinn’s power-play goal gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 6:35 of the first period when he beat Forsberg on a snap shot from the slot, set up by Benson and Dahlin.

The Sabres went 2-for-3 on the power play for the second straight game. They had been in a 1-for-19 drought over their previous six games.

Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff credited the improvement to having his first unit available after Dahlin missed three games Oct. 13-17 because of an upper-body injury.

“You know, we’ve tried to run it out,” Ruff said. “We missed ‘Dahls’ for a couple games and got him back. You look at the power plays, the zone time, our entries … You put the work in, and we’re starting to see results.”

Thompson made it 2-0 at 15:38 of the second period, scoring on a snap shot from the right circle on a pass from Benson off the rush.

“All goal-scorers a lot of times can run a little hotter,” Ruff said. “They can get a cold stretch, but usually when they come out of it, they’re scoring like seven or eight goals in four or five games. And the chances are there. That line these last couple games has had great chemistry.”

Perry cut it to 2-1 at 17:24 on the power play when Trevor Moore’s one-timer from the right circle deflected in off Perry for his first goal of the season. The goal was initially waved off for goaltender interference, but the play was overturned after the Kings successfully challenged.

“No, that’s a good goal,” Luukkonen said. “That’s not goalie interference. I would have been (upset) myself if they called it goalie interference.”

Lee tied it 2-2 just 1:29 into the third period. He was alone in the crease to put in Scott Laughton’s centering pass from the trapezoid shortly after a power play expired.

“Exactly where he was when he scored the goal, right in front of the net, he seems to get a lot of chances in that area,” Laviolette said.

NOTES: Thompson has 223 goals in 502 games for the Sabres, passing Rene Robert (222) for ninth in franchise history. … Kings forward Martin Chromiak made his NHL debut and had one shot on goal in 17:31 of ice time, including 4:27 on the power play. He played on the first line with Alex Laferriere and Artemi Panarin because Adrian Kempe was out with an undisclosed injury. He is day to day.