Buffalo Sabres complete a very strange three-peat in win over Kings

If you dive into the crazy history of the NHL, you will find some pretty cool and strange statistics. Well, last night, the Buffalo Sabres added a page to those strange stats when they beat the LA Kings 1-0 last night, scoring the shutout win in what is an important early-season road trip.

The key phrase, however, is ‘shutout win.’ Why? Well, if you didn’t know, the Sabres completed a three-peat against the LA Kings, shutting them out at least once in each of the past three seasons. While this may not sound so significant, the fact it occurred against a Western Conference team makes this one interesting. 

Had this happened against a division rival or even a team from the Metropolitan Division, I’d probably turn my nose up at it. The Blue and Gold play against most division rivals four times, and they have three meetings against another two. They also play each team from the Metro three times. 

But the Sabres only face each team in the West twice, adding to the significance here. The three-peat started in December 2022, when you might remember the Sabres, wearing their famed Goathead uniforms, scored six goals in the third period en route to what was a statement win over LA.

Sabres complete a strange three-peat against Kings in shutout win

I was in the gym that evening, multitasking between what was a rather memorable back workout and watching the game on my phone. Soon, that back workout and the game itself became such a vivid memory that I remember quite a few details, like setting my phone upright against a bench and watching it while I performed standing cable rows. 

Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself. Fast-forward to earlier this calendar year in February 2024, and the Sabres smashed the Kings 7-0 in a game that also took place at KeyBank Center. Unfortunately, the Blue and Gold couldn’t get the best of the Kings when the two teams met again in Buffalo this past October, so if they wanted to pull off this three-peat, it had to come on the road trip. 

This decreased the odds that the Sabres would have accomplished this, what with it being the first of the trip, so the ensuing jet lag and body clock shifting probably didn’t help matters. But, thanks to Jason Zucker (who is again making me look foolish since I criticized his coming to Buffalo) playing the hero and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen securing the shutout, the Sabres accomplished it.

This three-peat won’t be so significant in the long run, but it’s not every day that you see a team that hadn’t been to the playoffs in a while shut out a perennial playoff contender from a different conference in three straight seasons.