LOS ANGELES _ As part of Staples Center's 20th-anniversary celebration Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Kings orchestrated an actual laser show during the first intermission, synchronizing more than 600 neon beams of light in a Guinness World Record-breaking stunt.
Their hockey team proved far less precise. Despite flinging a season-high 47 shots on net, the Kings were blanked in a 3-0 loss to the Buffalo Sabres.
For a second straight game, the Kings hung with one of the NHL's hottest early-season teams. Much like their 2-0 loss to the streaking Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday, the Kings outshot the Sabres, who improved to 6-1-1. After allowing a pair of early goals, they generated the better chances the rest of the night. They spent most of the final two periods in the offensive zone and thrice went on the power-play.
Yet, they couldn't capitalize. For the first time since February 2017, they were shut out in consecutive games.
Kings coach Todd McLellan was again pleased with his group's effort. The Sabres' opening pair of goals aside, both of which came as the result of "long chances" that saw Sabres forwards Casey Mittelstadt and Conor Sheary capitalize on full-ice rushes in transition, the first-year bench boss saw more growth in the Kings' grasp of his new systems, evident in their gaudy shot total and consistent pressure during the second and third periods.
The Kings' execution, however, left McLellan wanting.
They appeared snake-bitten early. Forward Anze Kopitar couldn't sneak a mini-breakaway chance past Sabres goalie Carter Hutton. Defenseman Joakim Ryan jumped into the play only to have a redirection ring off the post. Forward Tyler Toffoli was stuffed by Hutton on a wrap-around attempt.
The Sabres added to their lead early in the second, scoring a power-play goal that was credited to Mittelstadt but appeared to bounce off Kings' defenseman Alec Martinez and into the net. The Kings responded with more chances _ an Ilya Kovalchuk shot off the post, a close-range effort from Jeff Carter that Hutton kicked aside, and several other shots from dangerous areas that sailed wide of the net _ but still nothing on the scoreboard.
In the third, the Sabres' net became a shooting gallery. On an early 5-on-3 Kings power-play, Doughty had a shot saved through traffic, Dustin Brown had a snap-shot stopped by Hutton, Michael Amadio whizzed a pair of wrist shots just wide of the goal. Later, Adrian Kempe was denied by Hutton's block moments before Toffoli was robbed by Hutton's glove.
It was that type of night _ far from a redux of the many listless performances that sunk the Kings last year, but a third-straight defeat that is making the early results this season feel much the same.
Now 2-5-0, the Kings sit fourth-to-last in the Western Conference in the early going. Their defeat Tuesday ensures a losing record on their opening five-game homestand, which concludes Saturday night against the Calgary Flames. Despite outshooting their opponent in all seven games thus far, frustration is inevitably beginning to build.
