Sabres Gain Tie By Relying on Counterpunch

In a game that included a rare fight involving Luc Robitaille, the Kings could not deliver the knockout punch against the Buffalo Sabres and finished with a 2-2 tie Thursday night before 10,364 at the Great Western Forum.

Yanic Perreault and Glen Murray scored power-play goals and Robitaille helped get the Kings fired up with a fight with Buffalo goaltender Dominik Hasek late in the second period.

However, the Kings hurt themselves with sloppy play in their own zone and gave up costly goals to the Sabres, who outshot the Kings, 31-26.

The Kings, who will play the rest of their games this month in California, blew a chance to gain two points as they try to stay in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race. Heading into Thursday’s game, they were well aware that this is a key stretch for them.

“We haven’t hit that big roll yet,” defenseman Garry Galley said before the game. “We haven’t established ourselves. We’ve been undefeated for four or five [games] and then lose a couple and then come back and win again. It would be nice to see us get some confidence and get on a nice big roll. That would then possibly put us in position that we’re not coming down to the last 10 or 15 games scrambling [to make the playoffs].

On Wednesday, the Kings spent nearly 25 minutes practicing on their power play, which had produced only two goals in the team’s last 23 man-advantage opportunities.

Much of the Kings’ power-play problems had been with puck movement. Against Buffalo, the Kings struggled to get any solid scoring chances on their first two power plays.

The Kings finally got things going on their third man-advantage opportunity with Philippe Boucher, Murray, Robitaille, Galley and Perreault on the ice.

Murray and Boucher kept the puck in the Buffalo zone before Galley made a nice pass from the left point to Perreault, who scored his 18th goal from outside the right post at 17:04 of the second period. It was Perreault’s first goal since Dec. 20 and only his second in 14 games.

Shortly after Perreault scored, the pace of the game picked up and with 1:39 remaining in the period, Robitaille was called for high-sticking on Buffalo’s Brian Holzinger. On his way to the penalty box, Robitaille and Hasek exchanged words before Hasek took a wild swing that triggered a minor scrap. .

“These are important games . . . and we have to have a lot of emotion,” Robitaille said. “I take a penalty and the goalie skates right behind me . . . he was totally out of his way. I just pushed him out of the way. . . . I was just trying to get going.”

Buffalo did not take long to tie the score in the third period, Matthew Barnaby assisting on a goal by Michal Grosek at 1:38. Later in the period, however, Grosek gave the Kings a four-minute power play after he received a double-minor penalty for high-sticking.

The Kings took a 2-1 lead at 10:28 with their second power-play goal of the game. Ray Ferraro set up the score with a nifty pass to Murray, who scored his 12th goal with a high shot from the slot.

With Grosek still in the penalty box serving the second minor penalty, Buffalo’s Michael Peca beat Galley for a loose puck in the King zone and then passed to Dixon Ward, who scored a short-handed goal 48 seconds after Murray’s goal.

“We get a goal and then we just shoot ourselves in the foot,” said King Coach Larry Robinson, whose team is 17-18-8 and in sixth place in the West.