Kings Prove to Be Easy for Cloutier : Buffalo Rests Its Regular Goaltender in 6-1 Win Over L.A.

Buffalo Sabre goaltender Jacques Cloutier joked that he hadn’t played in so long that he “didn’t know where (the) crease was for a while.”

Sunday, he looked right at home, posting a strong performance in helping the Sabres to a 6-1 victory over the Kings.

Cloutier hadn’t played in Buffalo’s last 11 games, but Sabre Coach Scotty Bowman said his 24-save performance was outstanding.

“The guys wanted to play for him,” said Bowman. “He hasn’t had a big shot at playing and it seemed every time he went in . . . he didn’t have much protection.”

Spelling regular goaltender Tom Barrasso, Cloutier made several outstanding saves in the first period and blanked the Kings for the final two.

“It was not only me,” he said. “The whole team played well. They had some pretty good shots, but defensemen cleared everybody pretty good and it’s easy when you see the puck coming at you.”

Mike Foligno scored two power-play goals to lead the Sabres, while Phil Russell, Dave Andreychuk, John Tucker and Gates Orlando added goals.

The victory gave the Sabres 76 points, one more than Hartford. The two teams are battling for the final Adams Division playoff berth.

Jim Fox scored for the Kings, who completed a five-game trip with a 1-4 record.

The Sabres jumped out to a 4-1 lead after the first period and coasted the rest of the way.

Less than two minutes into the game, Russell opened the scoring on a 50-foot slap shot that deflected off a King defender’s stick past King goalie Roland Melanson.

Fox deflected a Bernie Nicholls shot past Cloutier for the Kings’ only goal at the 15:21 mark of the opening period.