The Buffalo Sabres have had a successful road trip so far, as they secured shutout wins in their first two games of this trip while scoring a combined seven goals. On Saturday, they were hoping to at the very least keep the win streak going, but also their shutout streak against the Los Angeles Kings.
They were able to do one of those but an early goal by the Kings in the first period ended the shutout streak. It didn't matter as the Sabres would tie it up in the second and then score three goals in the third to secure their fourth straight win and 12 in their last 13 games.
These are some of the top takeaways for the Buffalo Sabres from the game on Saturday.
Buffalo Sabres shutout streak ends in the first period on power-play goal
The Buffalo Sabres kicked off their four-game road trip with back-to-back shutouts, but they knew pretty early in this game that they would not be extending it to three. The Kings would end up opening the scoring midway through the first period with Artemi Panarin beating Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen for the power-play goal.
As Paul Hamilton with WGR550 tweeted, the Sabres had a shutout streak that was just under 175 minutes.
It is not necessarily surprising that their shutout streak ended, but it was a little surprising how it ended. The Sabres have had one of the best penalty kills in the league with a penalty kill percentage of 83.3%, and the Kings aren't necessarily very strong with the man advantage, as they ranked 24th in the league at 17.3%.
Tage Thompson shows off his patience with his second-period goal
Tage Thompson is known for having one of the fastest shots in the NHL and is currently third in the league in shots between 90-100 mph with 99, according to NHL EDGE. On Saturday against the Kings, Thompson wouldn't need that hard shot to score, but rather showed off his patience and puck skills near the net to beat Anton Forsberg to tie the game up.
On the play, Peyton Krebs took a shot that Forsberg was not able to contain, and Thompson was waiting for the rebound. He was able to control the puck, get Forsberg to commit, and then sneak the puck behind him.
Patience pays off! 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/4Zat66pHR6
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) March 21, 2026
Thompson was in a bit of a scoring slump entering the road trip and went five games without a goal. However, he might be heating up as he has now had a goal in each of his last two games and has 36 on the season.
Sam Carrick just keeps scoring for the Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres traded for Sam Carrick to help on their fourth line and saw him as a physical forward who could help in the faceoff circle. He has certainly done that, but the goal-scoring has been a pleasant surprise.
After scoring two against the San Jose Sharks, Carrick helped break the tie in the third period with a beautiful backhand shot to beat Forsberg for the goal. Carrick now has five goals in eight games with the Sabres after scoring 10 in the prior 160 games while with the New York Rangers.
One of the reasons for the Sabres' recent success has been the production they get from their defense. They got that again against the Kings as Rasmus Dahlin had a power-play goal, but if the Sabres keep getting this scoring from their fourth line, it just adds another element opposing teams need to worry about when playing the Sabres.
Buffalo Sabres struggle in the faceoff circle against the Kings
If there is one thing that the Sabres could point to as an area for improvement coming out of this game, it was their performance in the faceoff circle. They would finish the game against the Kings with a win percentage of only 34.5%, which is the lowest in a game since January 31st against the Montreal Canadiens.
In fact, it was only the third time in the last 16 games that the Sabres had a win percentage below 45%. The two players who struggled the most were Tage Thompson (2 for 9) and Ryan McLeod (3 for 12).
The good news is that it didn't impact the final score, and the Sabres were able to get the win, but it is something the coaching staff will want to address.
The Sabres now have 94 points on the season and move back into a tie with the Carolina Hurricanes, who won on Friday night over the Toronto Maple Leafs. There is one more game on this road trip, tomorrow night against the Ducks, before they return home to play the Boston Bruins on Wednesday.