Another convincing win has Sabres setting records and aiming higher

Thursday was a great night to be named Alex at KeyBank Center, where the Buffalo Sabres beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 for their fifth straight win.

Goaltender Alex Lyon, for starters, set a franchise record with his 10th consecutive victory in net. He’d tied Gerry Desjardins’ record (from 1976) with a shutout Saturday on Long Island, and this time out, the ninth-year veteran made a season-high 37 saves to stand alone in Sabres lore.

“It’s awesome to be a part of the history,” Lyon said after sharing a moment postgame with Dominik Hasek, who’s in town for the premiere of his documentary. “But when you’re stacked up against guys like Ryan Miller and obviously Hasek, those are the guys that I idolized growing up, so I’m certainly not gonna put myself anywhere near the conversation with those guys. For me, I’m happy for the team.”

The offseason signing owns half of Buffalo’s wins during this 20-3-1 stretch, which has the team in third place in the Atlantic Division and just three points behind the second-place Detroit Red Wings. Lyon boasts a .933 save percentage and 1.94 goals-against average during his streak, and coach Lindy Ruff feels he’s brought an “infectious” calmness to the Sabres.

“He’s not the biggest guy, he’s not the most athletic guy, he hasn’t taken the most direct route,” added forward Alex Tuch, “but he’s here, he comes to work, he has a lot of fun doing it and, man, he’s a hell of a goalie.”

Tuch, the other Alex of note, did his part with his fourth career hat trick – and the 30th leaguewide this January, joining teammates Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin on that list.

The winger’s night began with some puck luck on the power play, his centering pass redirecting off defenseman Cody Ceci and into the net. The second saw him deflect a Bowen Byram point shot past Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper, expanding Buffalo’s lead to 3-0 in the second period. The third, much like Thompson’s and Dahlin’s hat tricks, went into an empty net to secure a Sabres win.

Tuch is up to 22 goals this season, and 10 have come in January; similar to last season, he’s hit his offensive stride after the Christmas break.

“He’s kind of a unicorn,” defenseman Michael Kesselring said. “He’s a big boy, he skates really well, stick checks really well. … When he’s going, he can be a pretty dynamic player.”

Adrian Kempe quickly answered Tuch’s second goal, but Buffalo played rock-solid defense, especially in the third period, to defend its 3-1 lead. While the Kings produced their share of shots, many were unscreened, from low-danger areas and mostly unproblematic for Lyon.

The Sabres were again unsatisfied with their second period – they allowed 19 shots, and Ruff felt they got “incredibly cute” with the puck – and again managed to come away with two crucial points.

In the first 29 games, Buffalo couldn’t muster a single three-game winning streak. In the last 24, it’s built separate streaks of 10, three and now five (and counting). That sustained success, and the resulting jump in the standings, has these Sabres aiming high.

“We’re trying to prove as a team that we’re legit,” Tuch said. “We’re not just gonna go for the playoffs, we’re gonna go for the Cup, and that’s our goal: get better each and every day.”

Here’s more from the win.

Defensemen stay involved

The Sabres are among the league leaders in points by defensemen, and that continued Thursday. Mattias Samuelsson scored his ninth goal of the season on a one-timer from the point, and both Dahlin and Byram notched primary assists.

They’re not only jumping into plays and pinching in the offensive zone, but they’re doing so responsibly – in this game, the Kings generated next to nothing on the rush.

“We’ve got some swag right now, I would call it,” Kesselring said. “… I’ve never played on a team where the D corps is so involved. It’s pretty fun to be a part of, and the forwards are doing a good job reading off us, honestly, and as long as we’re responsible with it, it’s been really effective.”

Kesselring, who registered two shots, is still looking for his first goal with the Sabres. He’s staying engaged, though, with his usual after-the-whistle nastiness – the offseason acquisition is up to 35 penalty minutes, including an early roughing and a late misconduct Thursday.

“It’s hard when you’re not producing,” he said. “You’ve got to find other ways to impact the game, and hoping something will help me get going here. Thought my legs were good again tonight, so just keep building on that.”

Dominance at the dot

Buffalo won 63 percent of the faceoffs, its best performance at the dot this season. Thompson went 8-for-15, Ryan McLeod went 10-for-17, Noah Ostlund went 3-for-5, Peyton Krebs went 6-for-9 and Jason Zucker was a perfect 4-for-4, among others.

“We got two goals tonight because we won a faceoff, got to the net,” Ruff said.

Postgame sound

Up next

The Sabres and Montreal Canadiens face off for the final time this season on Saturday at 7 p.m. at KeyBank Center. MSG’s pregame coverage starts at 6:30.

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