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Stars sink Sabres 5-1 on 3 assists from Klingberg, Faksa injured

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The Dallas Stars returned to the friendly confines of the American Airlines Center on Saturday night to square off against a Buffalo Sabres team (4-7-2) still trying to find it’s footing under new head coach Phil Housley. Dallas was coming off a five game road trip in which they only managed to collect four points in the standings and were looking to cleanse their palate at home.

The Stars dialed up their secondary scoring and did enough to perhaps purge the bitterness from the road trip, but not without paying a price. Radek Faksa had to leave the game late in the second period after dragging Kyle Okposo on top of his leg during a post-whistle scrum. He did not return for the rest of the game with a lower body injury.

After getting housed in the first period against Winnipeg on Tuesday night, the Stars came out with energy and conviction and looked to get bodies to the net. They were rewarded in the first five minutes when Antoine Roussel peppered a wrist shot on Robin Lehner from an awkward angle, and Remi Elie stayed with it to clean up the rebound to record his first goal of the year.

The strategy paid off again a few minutes later when Radek Faksa’s line came in on the rush. Gemel Smith backhanded a shot to the net in an attempt to create a rebound and Lehner obliged. This time Faksa cleaned up the rebound as he has been known to do.

The fourth line wasn’t done creating offense, and Smith recorded another primary assist when Stephen Johns  joined in on the rush, received the pass from Smith, and fired from the high slot to put Dallas up by three. The third goal chased Lehner out of the net for Buffalo, and he was replaced by Chad Johnson.

Playing in his second NHL game of the year, Jason Dickinson drew a slashing penalty in the first period, atoning for his committed penalty early in the Winnipeg game. The top players for Dallas got in on the scoring action and created a beautiful play with the man advantage. The puck went from Alexander Radulov to John Klingberg, then to Tyler Seguin waiting on the left circle for the one-timer. Seguin recorded his eight goal of the year and the rout was on.

Kari Lehtonen drew the start in net for the Stars and gave Dallas a clean first period. He stopped all eight shots he faced, including two rapid fire chances at the buzzer.

Less than two minutes into the second period Marc Methot committed a holding minor, and the Stars looked to get their penalty kill back on track after going 1 for 3 against Winnipeg. They were successful, even with one of their top penalty killers in the box.

With a little over eight minutes to go, Ryan O’Reilly won a face-off in the Stars’ zone and promptly shot a wrister that dribbled in off of Lehtonen’s glove. It was a poor sequence for Dallas as Roussel immediately committed a holding penalty and sent Buffalo back on the power play.

Buffalo sensation Jack Eichel fired a one-timer from the left circle but Lehtonen played it well. Marco Scandella forced a point shot through traffic and Lehtonen came up big again. Eichel followed it up with a shot that glanced off the post, and the Stars managed to stay perfect on the penalty kill.

Not content to sit on the lead, Dallas squelched any momentum Buffalo had gained after spending a good two and a half minutes in the Sabres’ zone. After the third line kept the puck in the zone for the majority of the possession, the Stars got a full line change and held the zone. They attempted a third change, putting Roussel on the ice, and Roussel cashed in on a deflection off of a centering pass from Klingberg who notched his third assist of the game.

Dallas spent the first four minutes of the third period on the penalty kill after Seguin and Roussel both committed successive minors. They boosted their special team numbers further by killing both penalties thanks to solid play from Lehtonen. It was the last real shot that Buffalo had to put up any fight.

Aside from one goal that he’d like to have back, Lehtonen made a strong bid for more playing time from the coaching staff going forward. He ended the night with 27 saves on 28 shots, and the Stars properly took out their previous frustrations on an inferior opponent.

The Goals

First Period

3:09 Remi Elie went to the net and found a rebound off of a wrist shot from Antoine Roussel. It was Elie’s first goal of the season. Stars 1, Sabres 0

7:07 The Stars scored on another rebound after Gemel Smith sent a centering pass to the net, and Radek Faksa swatted it in. Stars 2, Sabres 0

10:27 Stephen Johns joined in on the rush and was rewarded with a good pass from Gemel Smith. Johns did the rest on a top shelf wrist shot from the high slot. Stars 3, Sabres 0

12:51 Tyler Seguin scored on the power play from a one-timer after passes from Alexander Radulov and John Klingberg. Stars 4, Sabres 0

Second Period

11:51 Ryan O’Reilly won a face-off and scored an unassisted goal as the puck wouldn’t stick to Kari Lehtonen. Stars 4, Sabres 1

18:50 Antoine Roussel scored his first goal of the season after lots of zone possession and multiple line changes. John Klingberg found Roussel in the the slot to put the Stars back up by four. Stars 5, Sabres 1

Third Period

Sabres lineup
Evander Kane — Jack Eichel — Jason Pominville
Benoit Pouliot — Ryan O’Reilly — Kyle Okposo
Zemgus Girgensons — Sam Reinhart — Seth Griffith
Matt Moulson — Johan Larsson — Jordan Nolan

Marco Scandella — Justin Falk
Jake McCabe — Matt Tennyson
Victor Antinpin — Taylor Fedun

Robin Lehner
Chad Johnson

Scratched: Nicholas Baptiste

Injured: Justin Bailey (lower body), Rasmus Ristolainen (upper body)

Stars lineup
Jamie Benn — Tyler Seguin — Alexander Radulov
Antione Roussel — Jason Spezza — Remi Elie
Jason Dickinson — Mattias Janmark — Devin Shore
Gemel Smith — Radek Faksa — Tyler Pitlick

Marc Methot — John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis — Greg Pateryn
Esa Lindell — Stephen Johns

Kari Lehtonen
Ben Bishop

Scratched: Jamie Oleksiak

Injured: Martin Hanzal (lower body), Brett Ritchie (upper body)

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