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Mike Harrington: Sabres make another great comeback but still have to deal with reality

Let's start by giving credit where it's due.

The Buffalo Sabres just don't quit on games. Tuesday's 4-3 overtime escape over the Los Angeles Kings was their sixth win of the season when trailing after two periods, tied for the NHL lead. They won only five games in such spots last season, when they had all kinds of quit in their play.

Jack Eichel was a monster in this one with 10 shots on goal and 14 shot attempts. And he was a beast down low, drawing a penalty with 3.9 seconds left in regulation that turned into the game-winning power play.

The Sabres took advantage of opportunity. The Kings were at the end of a back-to-back coming off a loss Monday in Detroit. Defenseman Alec Martinez, who scored their Stanley Cup-winning goal in double overtime in 2014, was missing his second game of the season with an upper-body injury.

Then injuries hit them again, derailing former Norris Trophy winner Drew Doughty and Dion Phaneuf during this game, leaving the visitors with just four defensemen for the third period.

Jake Muzzin is probably the only one you've ever heard of. The others were Derek Forbort, the immortal Oscar Fantenberg and rookie Sean Walker, who was playing in just his fifth career game.

"That was a nice little break there for us," said Zemgus Girgensons, who pick-pocketed Doughty en route to Buffalo's first goal of the game.

The Wraparound: Sabres 4, Kings 3, OT

"We tried to grind them out for sure," added Johan Larsson, who had the tying goal at 7:23 of the third.

The Sabres' top players were excellent in this game, especially at crunch time. But the fourth line of Larsson between Girgensons and Evan Rodrigues was terrific all night. Hallelujah for some actual secondary scoring.

One of the best plays that didn't make the scoresheet was Girgensons beating the Kings' defense down the ice on what would have been an icing call to keep a third-period play alive. The puck never left the zone and Larsson tipped home Lawrence Pilut's point shot a few seconds later to tie the game.

Now to the Sabres' top players. They were awesome when they needed to be.

"When the guys dug in and found a way to win, it was because of their work," said coach Phil Housley.

Buffalo had a monstrous 48 shot attempts in the game when Rasmus Ristolainen was on the ice. They had 44 with Eichel on the ice, 42 when Rasmus Dahlin was out there. Those three, along with Jeff Skinner and Sam Reinhart, all had Corsi ratings higher than 71 percent in the game. That's just domination.

So the winless streak is over at five and won't approach the winning streak that hit 10. Now for the reality check.

The Kings are a terrible team, a shell of the group that won Cups in 2012 and 2014. They're 30th in the NHL's overall standing and going nowhere. And while playing on a back-to-back against a rested team, they came to town and had a 3-1 lead through 40 minutes.

Just unacceptable. The Sabres got booed off the ice and it was richly deserved. They've won exactly nothing yet and were acting like they had arrived. The game was getting rubbed in their faces.

The clear message in the dressing room afterward was that things were said within those walls following the second period. And probably in much harsher tones than were heard when the team met Sunday morning after a disastrous Saturday matinee against Philadelphia.

Final: Buffalo Sabres 4, LA Kings 3 OT "We were just making the game too easy on them, especially a team that was down two defensemen," Eichel said. "I thought we just wore them down."

On one hand, the booing felt unduly harsh. The Sabres entered this game 10-3-2 in their last 15. If I had told you on the morning of Nov. 8 that would be their record over the next 15 games, how many of you would have complained?

But on the other hand, expectations are now raised. And they should be. There's no reason to avoid the thought this rebuild is on fast-forward and the playoffs should not only be a goal this season, but a reality.

The second and third lines remain a mess. It's hard to imagine Casey Mittelstadt between Conor Sheary and Kyle Okposo will remain a thing much longer after their combined minus-6 night with two shots on goal. Jason Pominville has disappeared, getting only 7:40 of ice time with no shots. Repeating: Matt Tennyson belongs in Rochester.

It was time to put an end to this losing streak right now. Before Arizona, a surprisingly tough defensive team, comes to town Thursday. And before the weekend trip to Washington and Boston.

Good on the Sabres to do it. But they capitalized on a bad team that was short-handed. They won't be so fortunate most nights.

"If you want to be a top team in the league you can't go on skids," Skinner said. "You've got stop them as quickly as you can. ... It's not always going to be pretty. Sometimes you'll have to grind one out."

"There's got to be some type of emotional response from the room and we showed that in the third," Eichel said. "It's good to see the last 20 going our way but we've got to start piecing together full games here."

Story topics: Buffalo Sabres / Los Angeles Kings