The Sabres had not fared well against the Stars over the past decade or so, and it began to show during a game in Dallas a couple of seasons ago. Buffalo made a trip to Dallas to take on the Stars in mid January and started off with some struggles.
Buffalo’s problems began when Drew Stafford took two straight penalties, both of which resulted in a goal for the Stars. Matt Niskanen and Steve Ott both scored to give Dallas a 2-0 after the first period.
Buffalo was outshot 12-5 in the first period, and things weren’t looking good for the Sabres. Dallas came out in the second with another goal just a couple minutes in. Trevor Daley’s wrist shot beat Miller and upped the lead to three.
Trailing 3-0, the Sabres didn’t give up, but they needed something to get going. That’s when Paul Gaustad stepped in.
Even though he may not have won the fight, Gaustad built some momentum and the Sabres used it perfectly. Here’s a clip of what happened after the Gaustad fight.
Paul Gaustad’s powerplay goal midway through the second got Buffalo on the board, but Buffalo still trailed by two and whatever Lindy Ruff said to the team during the intermission worked.
Three minutes into the third, Jochen Hecht cut the lead in half. Hecht’s goal was a bit of an awakening call to the Stars, who scored less than a minute later. Gaustad came through again for the Sabres after he scored again halfway through the third.
16 seconds later, Clarke MacArthur scored and tied the game at four. The teams would take this game to a shootout, spotlighting Ryan Miller and Marty Turco.
The first three rounds of the shootout didn’t solve anything as neither team could score. Jere Lehtinen scored in round four, putting the pressure on the Sabres. It was up to Derek Roy to keep things going, and he succeeded by beating Turco.
Jason Pominville completed the comeback by scoring in the next round and winning the game for the Sabres.
“It was a gutsy win,” said Buffalo goaltender Miller, who turned aside five of six Dallas attempts in the shootout. “You could see that hunger. The boys showed up. It was good to see.”