'No job that's too big or small' | Benson, Carrick combine for game winner in L.A.

LOS ANGELES – Tage Thompson shared a slogan his Buffalo Sabres have been living by for the last few months: “Everybody ropes, everyone rides.”

“It just means there’s no job that’s too big or small for you to do out there,” the alternate captain explained. “And I think when everyone out there is doing those little things that aren’t very pretty, but that show the guy next to you that you care about winning, it’s infectious.

The Sabres beat the Los Angeles Kings, 4-1, on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena, and the game-deciding sequence provided a great example.

With less than nine minutes remaining in a tied, tight-checking and low-event game, Kings defenseman Joel Edmundson stepped up the wall to lay a hit on Zach Benson. Edmundson connected, but not before the Buffalo winger tapped the puck ahead to linemate Sam Carrick, who took an open lane to the net and scored on a backhand – his fifth goal in eight games with the Sabres, and the game winner in this one.

“Guys seem to want to take runs at him,” Carrick said of Benson. “It’s part of his M.O., I guess.”

“Those are the plays that add up over the course of the game,” added Thompson, who scored his 36th goal in the win. “That’s the type of group that we have: guys that are selfless, that put their body on the line for the betterment of the team.”

Los Angeles challenged that Benson had played the puck with a high stick while entering the zone, but the goal stood, and Rasmus Dahlin padded Buffalo’s lead on the resulting power play. Benson later tacked on an empty netter, and the Sabres extended their road point streak to 13 games (12-0-1).

It was Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s turn in net, and he continued to pull his end of the rope with 26 saves on 27 shots. The one Kings goal came from Artemi Panarin on an early power play, snapping Buffalo’s 175:41 shutout streak (since last Saturday’s second period).

“I don’t think they created scary chances other than on their power play,” Luukkonen said. “I feel like it’s how well our D corps is playing, but (also) how well our forwards are tracking back and helping the D corps. And the goalies, too. It’s a full-team effort, and I think it shows on the scoreboard.”

The Kings managed just 19 shots at 5-on-5. With quick breakouts from the defensive zone, Buffalo kept things moving in the right direction for most of the game.

“Our D have really surprised me with just how well we can break the puck out with them,” Carrick said. “They go back for pucks a lot. They’re just so good at shoulder-checking, reading what the forecheck is, and then just figuring out a way to escape it. … When you can break the puck out like that, you can really frustrate the other team’s forecheck.”

The Sabres have allowed just 1.92 goals per game en route to a 12-1-0 record since the Olympic break. It’s a winning formula now, and it should be in the playoffs next month, as well.

Here’s more from the win.

'Ricky' on a roll

When general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen traded for Carrick, he probably would've been thrilled with five goals down the stretch. Well, the veteran center has already reached that mark while winning faceoffs and adding some physicality.

Carrick, Beck Malenstyn and their left winger, usually Benson or Peyton Krebs, haven't just been a good fourth line. They've been a great line, period.

"We're not gonna be a run-and-gun line," Carrick said. "We've got some offensive weapons on our team that we'll rely on them for a lot of that stuff. But if we can just do our job, shut down other teams and chip in offensively whenever we can, then that's great."

Power’s rush game

He didn’t get on the scoreboard, but Owen Power had a standout game. He led the way with the defensive-zone breakouts, often carrying the puck up ice himself and entering the Kings’ end. Per Natural Stat Trick, Buffalo led 11-1 in shots and 9-3 in scoring chances with Power deployed at 5-on-5 – three of those shots were his.

“When he went back for pucks, I thought he was able, at times, to skate away,” coach Lindy Ruff said. “I thought sometimes, physically, used his size to get away from people. But I thought a lot of his reads on whether to move it quickly or buy just a little bit of time were really good.”

Krebs moves up

Continuing a recent trend, Krebs spent much of the game on the first line with Thompson and Alex Tuch.

Krebs seemed to have the puck on his stick all afternoon. He earned the primary assist when his second-period shot created a rebound for Thompson, who dangled around Kings goalie Anton Forsberg and scored.

Postgame sound

Up next

The Sabres play the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday at 8 p.m. EDT before returning home. MSG’s pregame coverage starts at 7:30.