Kopitar tied it 1-1 just 13 seconds into the third period. He received a pass in the slot from Alex Laferriere and beat Luukkonen glove side.
“Great play by ‘Lafs’,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “Lafs strips the puck, and that's a strong hand one-timer by ‘Kopi.' … Not a lot of guys who can do that. And to continue to do that year after year and score a type of goal like that just goes to show the quality of player that he is.”
Kopitar then put Los Angeles ahead 2-1 at 18:22, scoring a power-play goal from the top of the left circle.
Kopitar completed the natural hat trick with an empty-net goal with 42 seconds remaining for the 3-1 final. It was his seventh career hat trick, passing Wayne Gretzky and Dustin Brown for sixth-most in Kings history, and his second in a season-opening game.
“He's the guy that we all look up to,” Kuemper said. “He's played in so many big games, and that's just leadership. Things maybe aren't going the way we want them to and he just goes out there and gets one right away, gets us back in it. Then to get the game-winner, and then to seal it with the hat trick, that's pretty special. He's just an incredible player.”
Tuch scored on a short-handed breakaway to give Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 16:55 of the second period. Kuemper got a piece of the initial shot with his glove, but Tuch stayed with it and lifted the rebound over the goalie’s left pad.
The Sabres outshot the Kings 27-11 through the first two periods and had several chances to score with five power plays, including a 5-on-3 for more than a minute in the first period.
“We had numerous opportunities,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “… We’re not going to win scoring one goal a game, but we played probably as close to our identity that we want throughout the whole game.”
