Best January Buffalo Sabers win in the 2023/2024 season

Next in the “best gains” series, we enter the month of January. For the best win this month, it was during the Buffalo Sabers road trip to California. After a frustrating loss the day before against the Anaheim Ducks, the club would look to respond the following evening against a very good Los Angeles Kings team.

Although the Kings had a good regular season, it came during a difficult stretch in their schedule. Los Angeles had lost its last 11 of 13 games before this game against Buffalo, so the Sabers must have been aware of the Kings’ desperation.

In what was a season-long pattern, Buffalo found itself trailing early as Anže Kopitar gave Los Angeles a 1-0 lead. However, a few minutes later, JJ Peterka equalized for the Sabres. The Kings would score two more goals before the end of the first period as they led 3-1. Devon Levi started for the Sabres, but he did his job despite allowing three goals in the first 20 minutes.

In the final 40 minutes, it was all Buffalo. They tied the game at 3-3 with Peterka and Jack Quinn scoring in the second period. Alex Tuch and Dylan Cozens added two more goals in the third, as Buffalo won this game 5-3. Between the Ducks game and the way this game was going, it looked like it was going to be another long night for the Sabres.

To their credit, they held on and Levi played very well after a tough first period as Buffalo scored four unanswered goals in the second and third periods combined. With the Kings’ loss, it was their 12th loss in 14 games. Buffalo would later sweep the season series against Los Angeles by shutting them out in Buffalo a few weeks later.