NHL

Dallas Stars at Buffalo Sabres

· National Hockey League
Final
2 - 4

Krebs and McLeod score 83 seconds apart and Buffalo Sabres hang on in 4-2 win over the Dallas Stars

Thomas Harley lights the lamp

Tage Thompson's goal put Buffalo up 3-0 at the 4:17 mark of the third period. Alex Tuch added an empty-netter with 11 second left. Defenseman Owen Power matched a career high with three assists and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 30 saves.

Jake Oettinger stopped 21 shots in losing his first start of the season. Thomas Harley spoiled Luukkonen's shutout bid on a shot that tipped off the stick of Buffalo forward Jason Zucker, and Tyler Seguin scored with 2:11 left with Oettinger pulled for an extra attacker.

Takeaways Stars: Dallas was, perhaps, riding too high coming off a 4-1 over the Oilers, who eliminated the Stars in the Western Conference finals last spring. Oettinger was sharp, while the team in front of him had too many breakdowns.

Sabres: By improving to 3-1-1 in its past five, this is the type of victory that begins validating the message and structure coach Lindy Ruff has preached since arriving for his second stint in Buffalo.

Key moment Luukkonen squaring up at the top of his crease to stop Miro Heiskanen’s blast from the top of the left circle, and then getting across to his left to prevent Jason Robertson from jamming in the rebound to preserve a 2-0 lead 1:35 into the third period.

Key stat 2 of 43 — The teams’ combined power-play production this season. Buffalo went 0 for 1 to drop to 0 of 22, while Dallas went 0 for 3 to drop to 2 of 21.

Up next The Stars close a two-game swing at Boston on Thursday. The Sabres continue four-game homestand hosting Detroit on Saturday.

Regular Season Series

BUF leads series 1-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 2nd Period 12:21 Peyton Krebs Goal (1) Batted, assists: Beck Malenstyn (1), Owen Power (2)
Goal 2nd Period 13:44 Ryan McLeod Goal (4) Wrist Shot, assists: Jason Zucker (5), Owen Power (3)
Goal 3rd Period 4:17 Tage Thompson Goal (5) Slap Shot, assists: Owen Power (4), Alex Tuch (6)
Goal 3rd Period 15:24 Thomas Harley Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Matt Duchene (3), Evgenii Dadonov (1)
Goal 3rd Period 17:48 Tyler Seguin Goal (3) Wrist Shot, assists: Evgenii Dadonov (2), Mavrik Bourque (1)
Goal 3rd Period 19:49 Alex Tuch Goal (3) Wrist Shot, assists: Tage Thompson (3)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/dal.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originDAL https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/buf.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originBUF
16 Blocked Shots 27
20 Hits 17
8 Takeaways 10
30 Shots 25
0 Power Play Goals 0
3 Power Play Opportunities 1
0.0 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
30 Faceoffs Won 19
61.2 Faceoff Win Percent 38.8
14 Giveaways 16
1 Total Penalties 3
2 Penalty Minutes 6

Game Information

KeyBank Center

Location: Buffalo, NY
Attendance: 13,014 | Capacity:

2024-25 Central Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Winnipeg 17 3 34 0
Minnesota 13 3 29 3
Dallas 12 6 24 0
Colorado 11 9 22 0
St. Louis 9 11 19 1
Utah 7 9 17 3
Chicago 7 12 15 1
Nashville 6 11 15 3

2024-25 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Toronto 12 6 26 2
Florida 12 7 25 1
Tampa Bay 10 6 22 2
Buffalo 10 9 21 1
Boston 9 9 21 3
Detroit 8 9 18 2
Ottawa 8 10 17 1
Montreal 7 10 16 2
Full Standings