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Saturday, Oct. 7 7:00pm ET
Varada scores twice to lift Sabres | |||||
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BOX SCORE
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- The Los Angeles Kings started fast Saturday night, but it was the Buffalo Sabres who finished on top. Vaclav Varada scored twice as the Sabres overcame a 2-0 deficit, scoring four straight goals to defeat Los Angeles 5-3. "I think we were surprised that L.A. came out like that," Sabres forward Stu Barnes said. "Anytime you get down 2-0 that quickly, regardless if you know that they've got some very good hockey players over there, I think it still kind of takes you back a bit." Dave Andreychuk's wrap-around, power-play goal capped the burst, staking Buffalo to a 4-2 lead with 5:30 left in the game. "We showed a lot of character tonight against a team that was playing pretty well in the first period," Andreychuk said. "We took the game over." Barnes had a goal and two assists, and J.P. Dumont had a goal and an assist for the Sabres. Kings coach Andy Murray was disappointed in his team's effort. "We started to develop a mentality on the ice that said, 'Hey, this game's going to come easy to us.' As soon as you do that you shoot yourself in the foot," Murray said. "I didn't see it necessarily starting in the second period -- I saw it in the last 10 minutes of the first period." Dumont sparked the comeback 5:38 into the second period, and the Sabres tied it six minutes later when Dumont batted Barnes' centering pass from behind the net out of the air and into the net. Barnes broke a 2-2 tie with 1:18 left in the second period. With Buffalo enjoying a two-man advantage, Barnes -- from a tough angle to the left of the net -- somehow scored when his shot into the crease trickled by goalie Jamie Storr. Rookie goalie Mika Noronen, playing his second game in place of injured Dominik Hasek, stopped 19 shots as the Sabres opened the season with two straight home wins for the first time since 1988. The 2-0 start also marks a decided improvement over Buffalo's 0-5-2 start last season. "Last year was a really disappointing start and this game could've turned ugly," said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff. "But I think we showed a lot of character. We had a lot of individuals that really stepped up to the plate." Ziggy Palffy and Rob Blake scored first-period power-play goals for the Kings, while Glen Murray cashed in with 2:50 left to cut the Sabres' lead to 4-3. The Kings are 0-6-1 in their last seven visits to Buffalo. Kings forward Luc Robitaille became the 54th player in NHL history, and the 17th active player, to reach 600 assists. Robitaille, who set up two goals, reached the mark when he assisted on Rob Blake's score that put the Kings up 2-0. Game notesGoalie Peter Skudra sat on the bench in his Sabres debut after being claimed off waivers from Boston on Friday. Skudra backed up Noronen after Hasek (knee) was placed on injured reserve. ... Since Doug Gilmour was acquired last March, Buffalo's line of Gilmour, Miroslav Satan and Curtis Brown have combined for 45 points in 12 games, including two goals and three assists in Thursday's home opener. ... Kings forward Luc Robitaille, 34th on the NHL's career scoring list, is four points shy of 1,000 with the Kings. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Los Angeles Clubhouse Buffalo Clubhouse RECAPS NY Rangers 2 Atlanta 1
Buffalo 5
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