The Sabres (22-19-7) pulled off their third consecutive win Thursday night against the Dallas Stars (27-16-4), who won six of their previous eight games and have the second-most points in the Western Conference.
Jimmy Vesey started the night off for Buffalo, scoring early with 12:59 remaining in the first period.
The pass, the finish, IT'S ALL THERE 😍#Sabres50 | @19Vesey pic.twitter.com/7wdevezDSH
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) January 17, 2020
The Stars tied it up in the second period, with a goal, their first and only of the night, from Jamie Benn at 4:28. Rasmus Dahlin put the Sabres on top to end the period with a goal scored with 3:5o remaining.
Fire in the hole! 💥#Sabres50 | @rasmusdahlin00 pic.twitter.com/Li93j2R9ql
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) January 17, 2020
Michael Frolik scored his first goal as a Sabre on the empty net with 2:16 remaining in the game. He was followed by Zemgus Girgensons, who also scored on the empty net with less than 10 seconds remaining on the clock, defeating the Stars 4-1.
Buffalo ended the evening with a perfect penalty kill record, four-for-four — topping Dallas who’s power play that had been the hottest in the NHL since the start of January. The Sabres are now withing five points of a wild card position. The Sabres entered the game with a penalty kill rank of 28th in the league.
Captain Jack Eichel had an assist, extending his point streak to nine games. He is currently the second player in the league with multiple point streaks of nine games or more this season, alongside of Boston’s David Pastrnak. Linus Ullmark made 28 saves and Ben Bishop had 18 saves.
“It was a big night for us as far as really feeling the game we need to play against the top teams in the NHL,” Buffalo’s Head Coach Ralph Krueger said following the game.
“I was just really proud how the guys came out in the third and were comfortable with the 2-1 lead once we had it and just managed it,” Krueger said. “Playing against one of the most experienced teams and mature teams in the National Hockey League. To do that to them, I thought, was just a really good evening of learning for us and growing and just pleased with the team effort that happened here throughout the whole game.”
The Sabres now head to Nashville to face the Predators Saturday night at 8 p.m before heading back to Buffalo.