Sabres at Kings | How to watch, lineup notes, and storylines

The Buffalo Sabres can extend their franchise-record point streak to 13 games when they visit the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.

The Sabres are halfway through their Pacific Division road trip with a pair of shutout wins over Vegas and San Jose. They are 11-0-1 in their last 12 road games dating back to Jan. 19.

With a point tonight, the Sabres would match the longest road point streaks in the NHL this season at 13 games (accomplished by both Dallas and Tampa Bay). There have only been 22 such streaks in NHL history.

Buffalo is once again two points behind Carolina for the top spot in the Eastern Conference following the Hurricane’s overtime win in Toronto on Friday.

The puck drops at 4 p.m. EDT. Here’s what you need to know.

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How to watch

TV (Sabres broadcast market): MSG (Pregame coverage begins at 3:30 p.m.)

Streaming: Gotham Sports App, ESPN+ (out of market)

Radio: WGR 550 / Buffalo Sabres App

More ways to watch/listen to Sabres games

Lineup notes

It will be Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen's turn to start in goal, coming off a 29-save shutout in his most recent game in Vegas on Tuesday. Luukkonen has a .974 save percentage and 0.67 goals-against average in three career games against Los Angeles.

Stay tuned for pregame warmups for the full projected lineup. In the meantime, read how the Sabres are juggling a 26-man roster in Friday's report from Los Angeles.

The shutout streak

Luukkonen (at Vegas) and Alex Lyon (at San Jose) became the first tandem of Sabres goalies to post shutouts in consecutive games since Ryan Miller and Martin Biron in 2006. 

Today, Luukkonen has a chance to make some more franchise history.

Buffalo hasn't allowed a goal in 164:07 of game action, the ninth-longest span in team history. The record is 226:24, set by Biron and Miller in 2003.

Counting road games only, the Sabres have gone 165:12 without allowing a goal. If they hold the Kings off the board for 42:58, they would set a franchise record in that department.

The Sabres have only had three straight shutout wins on one occasion in franchise history. Biron won all three from Jan. 18 to 24, 2003.

Scouting the Kings

The Sabres defeated the Kings 4-1 in Buffalo on Jan. 29, fueled by a hat trick from Alex Tuch and 37 saves from Lyon. The Kings have made two big changes since then, replacing former coach Jim Hiller with current interim coach D.J. Smith and acquiring star winger Artemi Panarin from the New York Rangers.

Panarin has 15 points (4+11) in 12 games since joining the Kings. Los Angeles is 5-5-2 in that span, good enough to occupy the second wild card spot in the Western Conference (but with only a one-point lead over Seattle and Nashville). 

Tonight will be the final regular-season meeting between the Sabres and Kings captain Anze Kopitar, who is retiring after this season. Kopitar, a two-time Stanley Cup champion and two-time Selke winner, passed Marcel Dionne to become the Kings' all-time leading point scorer earlier this month.