Carrick breaks tie in 3rd, Sabres defeat Kings for 4th straight win

LOS ANGELES -- Sam Carrick scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, and the Buffalo Sabres extended their winning streak to four games with a 4-1 victory against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.

Carrick gave the Sabres a 2-1 lead at 11:12 when he skated to the front of the net from the right boards and lifted a backhander past the blocker of Anton Forsberg for his fourth goal in five games. Los Angeles defenseman Joel Edmundson went for a hit on Buffalo forward Zach Benson along the half wall, giving Carrick a chance to move in alone to the slot.

“I knew 'Benny' was going to try to make a play for sure,” said Carrick, who has six points (five goals, one assist) in eight games for the Sabres since being acquired in a trade from the New York Rangers on March 6. “I saw both their guys go to him, and he did a good job of not turning it over. … He got it deep, and he put it in a good place where I could just skate onto it.”

The Kings challenged the play for a missed stoppage, but video review determined Benson did not play the puck with a high stick, and the goal was upheld.

Benson had a goal and an assist, and Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin also scored for the Sabres (44-20-6), who have won 12 of their past 13 games. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 26 saves.

“We have a slogan that everybody ropes, everyone rides,” Thompson said. “It kind of means that there’s no job that’s too big or small for you to do out there. I think when everyone out there is doing those little things that aren’t very pretty but show the guy next to you that you care about winning, it’s infectious, and I think everyone in the room is doing it.”

Buffalo is first in the Atlantic Division, six points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and tied with the Carolina Hurricanes for first in the Eastern Conference.

Artemi Panarin scored the lone goal for the Kings (28-25-16), who are 2-2-2 in their past six, and play the second of a back-to-back set at the Utah Mammoth on Sunday. Forsberg made 29 saves.

“You’ve got to be able to just play the exact same game for 60 minutes, and you don’t need to be playing high risk or whatever in the last 10 minutes,” Los Angeles interim coach D.J. Smith said. “And whatever reason, we haven’t been able to close games out.”

Los Angeles is one point behind the Nashville Predators for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

“We know where it’s at, you need points every night right now,” Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson said. “I mean, everyone around us, we’re all in the same boat. So it’s scoreboard watching, but enough, you got to do it yourself to get yourself in.”

Panarin gave Los Angeles a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 10:48 of the first period. Anze Kopitar sent a backhand pass to Panarin in the left face-off circle, where he put a one-timer under Luukkonen's stick. Panarin has eight points (three goals, five assists) during a five-game streak.

Kopitar's assist was his 700th point on home ice (228 goals, 472 assists), tying Marcel Dionne for the most in franchise history.

Thompson tied it 1-1 at 4:05 of the second period. He collected the rebound from Peyton Krebs' point shot, patiently stickhandled around Forsberg and tucked the puck into an open net at the left post.

“It’s definitely not premeditated, just kind of reactionary,” Thompson said. “But, yeah, 'Krebsy,' great forecheck which starts the whole play off, and then good reload by him too and puts one on net, and I kind of get lost in front there.”

On the ensuing power play after Carrick's goal, Dahlin made it 3-1 at 12:11 of the third. His wrist shot from the right circle was initially stopped by Forsberg, but Kings defenseman Cody Ceci knocked the puck out of the air and it trickled through Forsberg's pads from in front.

“It’s a tough way to lose because I thought for a lot of the game we were even or as good as them,” Smith said. “Played a pretty even game against a team that doesn’t lose very often. You know, the penalty aside, you’d like to see us be a little tighter in certain situations.”

Benson secured the 4-1 final with an empty-net goal at 17:35.

“We were a little stubborn to start the game,” Thompson said. “I thought we were trying to force plays to the middle of the ice and, obviously, got ourselves in a little bit of trouble there. I think once we kind of found our legs and started playing a little more simple, just putting pucks behind them, we started to feel it.”  

NOTES: The Sabres extended their franchise-record road point streak to 13 games (12-0-1). ... Kopitar has six points (four goals, two assists) in a five-game streak. He became the third skater age 38 or older to post a five-game point streak with the Kings, joining Larry Robinson (six games in 1989-90) and Corey Perry (five games in 2025-26). ... Panarin's goal ended a shutout streak for Buffalo of 174:55 dating to a 2-0 win at the Vegas Golden Knights on March 17, their fifth-longest in franchise history. ... Kings forward Joel Armia returned to the lineup after missing 10 games because of a back injury. He had one shot on goal in 13:44 of ice time.