Skinner, Sabres rally past Kings in OT

BUFFALO --Jeff Skinner scored on the power play at 1:49 of overtime, and the Buffalo Sabres ended a five-game losing streak with a 4-3 win against the Los Angeles Kings at KeyBank Center on Tuesday.

Skinner got the rebound off Jack Eichel's initial shot in the crease and scored into an open net.
Eichel scored his fifth goal in the past three games to cut it to 3-2 on the power play at 3:47 of the third period, and Johan Larsson tied it 3-3 at 7:23 when he redirected Lawrence Pilut's pass in front.
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"Coming in here after 40 minutes and you're down two goals, you just had a couple days off and you're at home, you just got beat 6-2 (to Philadelphia Flyers), there's got to be some type of emotional response from the room," Eichel said. "I think we showed that in the third."
Jake Muzzin had a goal and an assist, and Matt Luff and Adrian Kempe scored for the Kings (11-19-2), who have lost two in a row and six of their past eight games (2-5-1). Cal Petersen made 43 saves.

"Without him, it could have been worse," Muzzin said. "He's just so calm and collected back there, poised in position. He has a calming influence on the back end. I feel like if I do my job, he's going to do his and make the save, and he did that a lot tonight."
Eichel had a goal and an assist, Zemgus Girgensons scored, and Linus Ullmark made 26 saves for the Sabres (18-9-4), who were 0-3-2 in their previous five games.
"If you want to be a top team in the League, you can't go on skids," Skinner said. "You've got to stop them as quick as you can."
Anze Kopitar gathered the loose puck off a scramble at the side of the net and passed to Muzzin at the top of the left circle for a one-timer to give Los Angeles a 1-0 lead at 6:11 of the first period.
Girgensons tied it 1-1 when he poked the puck away from Kings defenseman Drew Doughty and scored blocker side from the left circle at 13:26.

Luff scored 52 seconds into the second period to give the Kings a 2-1 lead, taking a lofted pass from Muzzin and scoring with a backhand.
Kempe extended the lead to 3-1 with a shot from the slot at 12:55.
Los Angeles finished the game with four defensemen; Doughty did not return after the first period and Dion Phaneuf didn't play in the third period after each sustained an upper-body injury.
Kings coach Willie Desjardins said he expected both to be day to day.
"We've had a pretty good effort for a number of games lately," Desjardins said. "We didn't have as good a first period, but I thought we had a great second period. The third period was a tough period. We knew that coming out, down a couple of defensemen, it was going to be a tough period. But guys played hard."

They said it

"He's a great player. Every time he goes out, he plays hard, and it's not something new. He gives us both offense and defense. A lot of times, people see him as a defensive defenseman, but he can do it all … and he's got such a good attitude around the locker room as well. Big effort from him tonight." -- Kings coach Willie Desjardins on Jake Muzzin, who played 30:35.
"We were not happy. We can't play like that. We were sloppy, we gave up good opportunities. We had a good talk and it was huge for us to come back." -- Sabres forward Johan Larsson on the mood after the second period

Need to know

The Kings are 2-12-3 with one tie in Buffalo since 1993. … The Sabres have six wins when trailing after two periods, tying them with the Calgary Flames for the most in the NHL.

What's next

Kings:At the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; FS-O, FS-W, NHL.TV)
Sabres:Host the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; MSG-B, FS-A, NHL.TV)