Luukkonen leads Sabres to 1-0 win over Kings in return from injury

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 24 shots, Jason Zucker scored the game's only goal, and the Buffalo Sabres beat the Los Angeles Kings 1-0 on Wednesday night.

Luukkonen had six saves in the first period, six in the second and 12 in the third to get his first shutout of the season in his return after being sidelined for two games because of a lower-body injury. The Sabres have won five of seven.

David Rittich made 18 saves for Los Angeles, which has lost three of four.

With the game scoreless after two periods, Zucker scored 38 seconds into the third on the power play by redirecting Rasmus Dahlin’s shot past Rittich.

Dahlin has points on the man-advantage in four straight games, and he extended his point streak overall to seven straight with four goals and six assists in that span.

Sabres: Tage Thompson, who leads Buffalo in goals, missed his third straight game because of a lower-body injury. He had practiced the past two days.

Kings: Having spent the first two months of the season grinding out results in spite of largely inconsistent performances, Los Angeles couldn’t pull it off again and dropped to 5-2-1 on home ice.

Zucker was unbothered at the top of the crease, and that positioning turned into his fourth goal of the season with the tip of Dahlin’s effort.

Buffalo came into the night 2 for 19 (10.5%) on the power play away from home, which ranked 30th in the NHL. But a 1-for-3 showing was enough to take down Los Angeles.

Sabres visit Anaheim on Friday night, and Kings host Seattle on Saturday.

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Los Angeles Kings defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, right, chases Buffalo Sabres right wing JJ Peterka during the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, in Los Angeles, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar, right, vies for the puck against Buffalo Sabres center Peyton Krebs, left, and defenseman Jacob Bryson during the second period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, in Los Angeles, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Buffalo Sabres left wing Beck Malenstyn, right, and Los Angeles Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke vie for the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, in Los Angeles, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Buffalo Sabres left wing Beck Malenstyn, center, is helped off the ice by left wing Zach Benson, left, and defenseman Owen Power during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Los Angeles Kings, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, in Los Angeles, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar keeps the puck away from Buffalo Sabres defenseman Jacob Bryson during the second period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, in Los Angeles, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Buffalo Sabres defenseman Henri Jokiharju shoots during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Los Angeles Kings Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, in Los Angeles, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Los Angeles Kings defenseman Jordan Spence, left, and Buffalo Sabres center Jiri Kulich vie for the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, in Los Angeles, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, left, and Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar vie for the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, in Los Angeles, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order aimed at cutting federal support for gender transitions for people under age 19, his latest move to roll back protections for transgender people across the country.

“It is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called 'transition' of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures,” Trump said in a statement.

The order directs that federally-run insurance programs, including TRICARE for military families and Medicaid, exclude coverage for such care and calls on the Department of Justice to vigorously pursue litigation and legislation to oppose the practice.

Medicaid programs in some states cover gender-affirming care. The new order suggests that practice could end and target hospitals and universities that receive federal money and provide the care.

The language in the executive order — using words such as “maiming,” “sterilizing” and “mutilation” — contradicts what is typical for gender-affirming care in the United States. It also labels guidance from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health as “junk science.” Major medical groups such as the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics support access to the care.

Young people who persistently identify as a gender that differs from their sex assigned at birth are first evaluated by a team of professionals. Some young people may try a social transition, involving changing a hairstyle or pronouns. Some may later also receive puberty blockers or hormones. Surgery is extremely rare for minors.

“This executive order is a brazen attempt to put politicians in between people and their doctors, preventing them from accessing evidence-based health care supported by every major medical association in the country,” Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson said in a statement. “It is deeply unfair to play politics with people’s lives and strip transgender young people, their families and their providers of the freedom to make necessary health care decisions.”

Trump's order is likely to be challenged in court, as many of his policies have been.

The push is the latest by Trump to reverse policies by the Biden administration to protect transgender people and their care. On Monday, Trump directed the Pentagon to conduct a review that is likely to lead to them being barred from military service.

Hours after taking office last week, Trump signed another order that seeks to define sex as only male or female, not recognizing transgender, nonbinary or intersex people or the idea that gender can be fluid. Already that's resulted in the State Department halting issuing passports with an “X” gender markers, forcing transgender people to apply for travel documents with markers that don't match their identities.

Trump said he would address these issues during his campaign last year and his actions could prove widely divisive.

In the November election, voters were slightly more likely to oppose than support laws that ban gender-affirming medical treatment, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy, for minors under the age of 18 who identify as transgender, according to AP VoteCast. About half of voters, 52%, were opposed, but 47% said they were in favor.

Trump’s voters were much more likely to support bans on transgender care: about 6 in 10 Trump voters favored such laws.

“It’s very clear that this order, in combination with the other orders that we’ve seen over the past week, are meant to not protect anyone in this country, but rather to single-mindedly drive out transgender people of all ages from all walks of civic life,” said Harper Seldin, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBTQ & HIV Project.

Seldin said the ACLU is reviewing the order “to understand what, if anything, has immediate effect versus what needs to go through continued agency action.”

Even as transgender people have gained visibility and acceptance on some fronts, they've become major targets for social conservatives. In recent years, at least 26 states have adopted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors. And most of those states face lawsuits, including one over Tennessee's ban that's pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Republican-controlled states have also moved to keep transgender women and girls from competing in women's or girls sports and to dictate which bathrooms transgender people can use, particularly in schools.

President Donald Trump arrives to speak about the economy during an event at the Circa Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)