Athanasiou powers Kings' shutout over Sabres

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Andreas Athanasiou scored twice, including the 100th of his career, Cal Petersen stopped 19 shots and the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Buffalo Sabres 3-0 on Sunday.

After Athanasiou opening the scoring with 3:05 left in the second period, he and Dustin Brown sealed the win by scoring into an empty net in the final minute. Petersen earned his second shutout of the season and fourth of his career, while facing the team which initially drafted him.

Los Angeles, which rallied from a 3-1 third-period deficit for a 4-3 overtime win at Columbus on Friday, has won seven of nine and improved to 10-1-2 over its past 13 road games. At 31-19-7, the Kings have the most victories through 57 games since 2015-16, when they were 33-20-4.

Buffalo’s injury list grew lengthier when top-line forward Alex Tuch did not return after crashing head-first into the post during a short-handed rush with 8:55 remaining.

After his initial shot was stopped, Tuch tapped the rebound toward the net only to be stopped by Petersen. Tuch, however, couldn’t stop his momentum and crashed into the net appearing to strike the post with his right shoulder.

He was on the ice for a few moments before getting up on his own and heading straight up the tunnel for examination. The team had no immediate update on Tuch's status.

The Sabres, coming off wins over Minnesota and Toronto, squandered a chance to win three straight for just the second time after opening the season 3-0. Dustin Tokarski stopped 29 shots in dropping to 1-4-1 since missing nearly two months battling COVID-19.

Sprung by a long pass from Mikey Anderson, Athanasiou broke up the left wing on a 2-on-1 break. He fired a shot from the left circle which appeared to tip off the stick