Eichel gets point in 18th straight game, Sabres top Kings

BUFFALO --Jack Eichel had an assist in his return to the lineup to push his personal point streak to 18 games when the Buffalo Sabres defeated the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 at KeyBank Center on Saturday.

Eichel has 32 points (16 goals, 16 assists) during his streak. He did not play in a 6-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday because of an upper-body injury, and fell one game short of the Sabres point streak record of 18 set by Gilbert Perreault (Oct. 24-Dec. 4, 1971).
"In the first period, I think it took me a little bit to get into it," Eichel said. "But I think I got more into the game as it went on and started to feel better. I had some chances. I thought we started moving our feet, competing better in the second period. I think that's when we turned the tide of the game."
WATCH: [All Kings vs. Sabres highlights]
Rasmus Ristolainen, Marco Scandella and Victor Olofsson scored for the Sabres (17-13-7), who were 0-2-1 in their past three games. Linus Ullmark made 25 saves.
Adrian Kempe and Dustin Brown scored, and Jonathan Quick made 25 saves for Los Angeles (15-19-4), whose six-game point streak ended (4-0-2).
"Effort was there, a pretty evenly played game, could've went to either side," Kings coach Todd McLellan said. "Both teams hit a few posts. ... So at the end of the night we come out on the short end, but not disappointed in the effort or what was put into the game."
Kempe scored in the slot to give Kings a 1-0 lead at 1:32 of the second period. It was his third straight game with a goal.

Ristolainen tied it 1-1 at 7:35 when the rebound of a Jeff Skinner shot bounced to him at the left side of the net.
"I think we got a little [ticked] off," Ristolainen said. "I was out there. It was a tough shift, long shift. Personally, I got angry, so I hope we got angry. We got a couple long shifts in their zone and I think that really got us going. I don't think they can handle us down there, and we had those long shifts that grinded them down and gave us a lot of energy."
Scandella put Buffalo ahead 2-1 with a shot that redirected off Drew Doughty's leg and in at 16:48.
"I thought we could have had the lead after the first," Doughty said. "We had some early chances and then they kind of took over after the first five minutes of the second period. They outplayed us, I thought, and then we didn't start playing until maybe the last five, 10 minutes of the third, and that's why we lost."

Olofsson scored into an empty net at 18:27 of the third period for a 3-1 lead. Eichel had the secondary assist.
Brown made it 3-2 with 38 seconds left off a one-timer at the left side of the net.

They said it

"I think this game was there for the taking. I didn't like our effort in the second period again. We got points in every game except for one (on six-game road trip) so that's really positive but I would have liked to have seen two points in a couple of the other games and I would have liked to have seen two points tonight. It's a little bit frustrating."-- Kings defenseman Drew Doughty
"I think the pace they were playing and the way they were pressuring us, they weren't able to maintain that by the look of it, and we really came alive and started moving the puck quicker. We started skating more. I thought it was a truer sign of where we're going as a team. With that goal against, you can go [down] or you can go [up] and you could just feel everybody raise the game after the goal against." -- Sabres coach Ralph Krueger

Need to know

Olofsson extended his point streak to six games (four goals, four assists). … Sabres defenseman Zach Bogosian played 18:04 and had one shot on goal in his first game after being scratched the previous four games. … Kings defenseman Kale Clague played 17:57 in his NHL debut. … Los Angeles forward Alex Iafallo, who grew up in Eden, New York, just south of Buffalo, had an assist and has four assists in six games against the Sabres. ... Kings forward Trevor Lewis left the game at 1:31 of the first period following a collision with Sabres forward Rasmus Asplund and did not return. There was no update after the game.

What's next

Kings:Host the St. Louis Blues on Monday (10 p.m. ET, FS-W, FS-MW, NHL.TV)
Sabres: At the Ottawa Senators on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; RDS2, TSN5, MSG-B, NHL.TV)