LA Kings vs Buffalo Sabres Preview: Lineups, Key Points, and More

After a dominating win on Saturday against the Red Wings, the Kings look to keep it rolling against the Buffalo Sabres.

A Look Back at Opening Night: The Kings began their 2024-25 campaign in Buffalo back in October, skating to a 3-1 win off the back of an Anze Kopitar 3rd period natural hat trick. Darcy Kuemper, who, as we know, is unavailable for the Kings tonight, stopped 32 of 33 shots in the win.

Key Points Tonight against Buffalo Sabres:

1. Forechecking Wins Games

The Kings saw major success in the offensive zone against the Red Wings last time out, primarily due to their forecheck. LA was able to work their strong cycle game through this, leading to a 41-shot performance. Buffalo's defense is headlined by their big three of Dahlin, Byram, and Power, and a strong forecheck is key in shutting them down on the breakout.

2. More Minutes for Moverare

Jacob Moverare made his season debut on Saturday against Detroit, playing just under 15 minutes paired with Jordan Spence. Moverare blocked 4 shots, threw 2 hits, and finished the night as a +1. Moverare received high praise from head coach Jim Hiller, being named LA's player of the game. He is expected to be in the lineup once again tonight.

3. Runnin' With Rittich

David Rittich is expected to get the start tonight for the Kings, looking to continue his hot play. Since November 5th, Rittich sits at a perfect 3-0-0, carrying a .932 save percentage and a 1.54 goals against average. While many are awaiting Erik Portillo to get a shot in net, there is no reason for LA to move away from Rittich at this time based on his performances as of late.

Below is how the Kings lined up on Saturday, with no changes expected for tonight.

What to know about the Buffalo Sabres

Buffalo begins their three-game California trip tonight sitting at 8-9-1 and 5-5-0 over their last 10. Here's how the Sabres lined up this morning in LA, per Lance Lysowski:

Buffalo star forward and leading scorer Tage Thompson, who's missed the Sabres last two games due to injury, is out once again. Alex Tuch did not skate this morning but is still expected to play, per Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is tonight's projected starter for Buffalo. The Finnish-born goaltender enters tonight's game with a 6-4-1 record, 2.83 goals against average, and a .903 save percentage. He stopped 20 of 22 Kings shots back on opening night.

Tonight's game is scheduled for 7:30pm Pacific, with pregame coverage beginning at 7:00pm. An audio feed is also available on the ESPN LA App.