Sabres dominated in Dallas

After facing an early 4-0 deficit in the opening period, the Sabres lost a rough game to the Dallas Stars, 5-1, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Saturday night. The Stars had complete control and they never gave it up as the game progressed.

Remi Elie, Radek Faksa, Stephen Johns and Tyler Seguin found the back of the net early for Dallas, and it was more than enough.

With defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen out with a lower-body injury, the team was placed at a great disadvantage on the blue line. After already dealing with its share of struggles throughout the season, losing Ristolainen really hurt the team early on. In his place alongside Marco Scandella was Justin Falk, who was playing in his second game of the year.

Robin Lehner started the game but let in three quick goals on seven shots in the game’s first 10 minutes, giving way to Chad Johnson. 

After a slashing penalty to Tennyson, the Stars scored with the man advantage for their fourth goal to put the Sabres in a massive hole out of the gate.

However, head coach Phil Housley didn’t think the scoreboard was indicative of his team’s play. 

“When I evaluate the game, I think we played well. The score tells you differently, and there’s probably going to be a lot of people that disagree with me.” – Housley

Ryan O’Reilly was able to break through for the Sabres with his fifth goal of the year in the second period. Even though it occurred more than halfway through the period, it lowered his team’s deficit to three, but the second period ended the same way as the first. The Stars scored their fifth and final goal before time expired in the second, putting them up by four once again.

A crucial area that handicapped Buffalo in this game as well as many others was the power play. The Sabres showed no signs of life, finishing without a goal on four power play attempts, while the Stars took advantage of their lone opportunity in the opening period.

Lehner struggled mightily from the opening faceoff, with only four saves and three goals allowed in a quick night for him, which dropped him to a 3-5-1 record. Johnson was able to step in and did a good job given the circumstances. In two and a half periods of play, he earned 13 saves on 15 shots.

After falling behind early on, the Sabres were not given much of a chance and ended up being another failing effort, something we have seen far too often this early in the season.

Although they finished the game with a 28-22 edge in shots, it did little to help Buffalo on this night.

The Sabres will return home Tuesday night to take on the Washington Capitals at the KeyBank Center. That game is schedule for 7 p.m. and will be the first of our In The Box contest!