Eichel scores 2 goals in Sabres' 6-3 win over Kings
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Jack Eichel scored two goals in a 2:08 span of the second period and assisted on another goal to lead the Buffalo Sabres in a 6-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night.
Ryan O'Reilly and Brian Gionta also scored for Buffalo during a four-goal flurry in a 6:13 span of the second period.
Eichel set up Evander Kane for an insurance goal late in the third period and Sam Reinhart scored into an empty net in the final minute.
Kyle Okposo assisted on three of the Sabres' goals, giving him 11 points in his last 10 games and a team-high 21 points this season. Okposo played after missing Monday's practice due to illness.
Robin Lehner made 13 of his 30 saves in the third period and got the win for just the second time in his last 11 starts.
Jeff Carter scored twice for the Kings and Anze Kopitar had the other goal. Peter Budaj made 16 saves before being replaced by Jeff Zatkoff in the second period. Zatkoff stopped two shots.
The Kings have lost three of four and have not won in Buffalo since Feb. 21, 2003.
The Sabres entered the night as the NHL's lowest-scoring team with 56 goals through 27 games, but they scored four goals in a period for the first time since Dec. 26, 2015, turning a two-goal deficit into a two-goal lead.
O'Reilly scored at 9:31 of the second when he circled from behind the net and lifted a backhand from the slot over Budaj's glove.
Eichel tied the game with 6:24 left in the period on a backhand pass from the blue line that slid by Budaj.
Gionta gave the Sabres the lead 12 seconds later when he deflected Brian Gorges' wrist shot from the point. Budaj was benched after the third goal.
Eichel scored his fifth goal in seven games on a wrist shot from the slot to make it 4-2 with 4:16 remaining.
Carter scored his team-leading 14th goal 4:03 into the third period and beat Lehner on a breakaway 7:34 into the second period to put the Kings ahead 2-0.
Kopitar gave the Kings the lead 3 minutes into the game when he muscled his way around O'Reilly and jammed the puck between Lehner's pads. It was Kopitar's first goal since Oct. 25 and his 246th with the Kings, tying him with Wayne Gretzky for sixth on the all-time list.
NOTES: Sabres D Zach Bogosian skated with the team on Tuesday for the first time since spraining his knee on Nov. 1. . Kings F Trevor Lewis earned his 100th NHL point with an assist on Kopitar's goal. . The Kings lost for the first time this season when leading after the first period. They were 7-0-0.
Up Next
Kings: At Detroit on Thursday.
Sabres: Host the Islanders on Friday.