Stars rattle Sabres 7-1 to finish eastern road trip unbeaten
Mattias Janmark had two goals and an assist, Esa Lindell added a goal and two assists and the Dallas Stars defeated the Buffalo Sabres 7-1 on Saturday.
Jamie Benn and Radek Faksa each had a goal and an assist, and Remi Elle also scored for the Stars, who return home after a 3-0-1 trip. Benn extended his point streak to seven games.
John Klingberg tallied three assists and Jason Spezza had two. Kari Lehtonen made 26 saves for Dallas.
The Sabres lost for the seventh time in eight games and were booed off the ice after the second and third periods in their most-lopsided defeat of the season.
Sam Reinhart scored Buffalo’s goal. Robin Lehner stopped 15 shots before being replaced by Chad Johnson (10 saves) after allowing a fourth goal midway through the second period.
Elie gave the Stars a 1-0 lead five minutes into the game when he knocked in the rebound from Janmark’s shot after Lehner made a diving save. Janmark scored off the rebound on a power play to make it 2-0 late in the third period.
Janmark got his second goal of the game and 12th of the season when he beat Lehner on a partial breakaway up the left side early in the second period.
Reinhart scored the Sabres’ first goal on a power play midway through the second period. Jack Eichel assisted on the goal, extending his point streak to five games. Eichel, Buffalo’s lone All-Star, has 10 goals and 10 assists in his last 14 games.
Benn responded for Dallas 38 seconds later, deflecting Klinberg’s long shot into the net for his 19th of the year and chasing Lehner. Goals from Lindell and Faksa extended the Stars’ lead late in the period. Tyler Pitlick tipped in Klingberg’s shot for the seventh goal around the halfway mark of the third period.
Briefly
Stars F Martin Hanzal went to the dressing room in the second period with a lower-body injury and did not return.
The Stars are 9-2-1 against Buffalo since the start of the 2010-11 season.
The Sabres recalled F Nicholas Baptiste from the minors on Friday. Baptiste was scratched, along with D Nathan Beaulieu (illness) and D Victor Antipin (illness).
Up next
Stars: Host Florida on Tuesday to open three-game homestand.
Sabres: Start three-game road trip at Calgary on Monday night.
Dallas | 2 | 4 | 1 | — | 7 |
Buffalo | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 1 |
First Period—1, Dallas, Elie 5 (Janmark, Spezza), 5:03. 2, Dallas, Janmark 11 (Shore, Lindell), 14:09 (pp). Penalties—Pouliot, BUF, (slashing), 12:19; Roussel, DAL, (tripping), 17:44.
Second Period—3, Dallas, Janmark 12 (Spezza, Klingberg), 6:25. 4, Buffalo, Reinhart 8 (Ristolainen, Eichel), 8:54 (pp). 5, Dallas, Benn 19 (Lindell, Klingberg), 9:32. 6, Dallas, Lindell 5 (Benn, Radulov), 12:08. 7, Dallas, Faksa 12 (Johns, Roussel), 17:31. Penalties—Radulov, DAL, (tripping), 0:26; Shore, DAL, (tripping), 6:57; Nolan, BUF, Major (fighting), 12:40; Heatherington, DAL, Major (fighting), 12:40; Heatherington, DAL, (cross checking), 12:40; Nolan, BUF, (roughing), 12:40; Gorges, BUF, (interference), 14:52.
Third Period—8, Dallas, Pitlick 8 (Faksa, Klingberg), 7:24. Penalties—Heatherington, DAL, (roughing), 4:19.
Shots on Goal—Dallas 13-12-7—32. Buffalo 10-10-7—27. Power-play opportunities—Dallas 1 of 2; Buffalo 1 of 4. Goalies—Dallas, Lehtonen 7-5-1 (27 shots-26 saves). Buffalo, Lehner 9-18-6 (19-15), Johnson 1-8-3 (13-10). A—19,070 (19,070). T—2:26. Referees—Tom Chmielewski, Kevin Pollock. Linesmen—Greg Devorski, Andrew Smith.
This story was originally published January 20, 2018 at 4:09 PM with the headline "Stars rattle Sabres 7-1 to finish eastern road trip unbeaten."