For one night, the Stars can exhale.
Dallas secured its first road win in almost two months on Thursday by surviving the Sabres in a 5-4 win in Buffalo, N.Y. The Stars rode a season-high four power-play goals to rally past Buffalo, as Jason Robertson scored the game-winning goal with 3:32 left in the third period.
Robertson had two goals and an assist in his return to the lineup after missing two games due to a lower-body injury. Tyler Seguin also had two goals and an assist, his first three-point night since Nov. 16, 2019. John Klingberg had three assists for the second time this season.
Roope Hintz also scored for Dallas, as Braden Holtby made 20 saves on 24 shots.
The win snapped a seven-game losing streak on the road, and was the team’s second road regulation win of the season. It also prevented the Stars’ overall losing streak from reaching four games.
“Especially after the home loss to Montreal, we needed this one and we got it,” Stars coach Rick Bowness said. “We had to stop that slide on the road. We knew going into this road trip that if we have a successful road trip, it turns our season right around. We got this one tonight, and now we’ve got to Detroit tomorrow and try to get another two points.”
The Stars (19-16-2) play the Detroit Red Wings at 6:30 p.m. CT on Friday, followed by games at Philadelphia on Monday and New Jersey on Tuesday.
Defects remain in the Stars’ game, even after pumping 47 shots on Buffalo goaltender Aaron Dell.
Buffalo raced out in transition — much like Montreal did on Tuesday — after Stars mistakes in the offensive zone. This Stars team used to be the immovable object teams hated playing against. They strangled offenses, and then presented strong goaltending when teams found chances. Poor decision-making and tepid defending jumpstarted Buffalo’s offense on Thursday.
“I felt like they were really dragging a guy out to the offensive blue line, which makes it hard for the D to keep the gap,” Klingberg said. “Then they had guys coming underneath, which made it hard to defend them on the rush. Two-on-ones and odd-man rushes, that’s something that we talk about we have to cut down on.”
Despite the quality chances allowed on the rush, the Stars only gave up 24 shots on goal to the Sabres. Bowness said the Stars’ forecheck was disjointed, which allowed the Sabres to get out in transition.
“Listen, the guys are frustrated,” Bowness said. “When you get frustrated, you overwork. When you overwork, usually there’s not a lot of purpose to what you’re doing. The end result is you’re working hard, but you’re not getting to accomplish what you want to accomplish.”
Good thing Robertson and Seguin were around.
Robertson is one of the league’s most impactful offensive players, and he’s carrying a huge burden on the offensively-challenged Stars. When he is on the ice, the Stars outscore opponents 47-21. When he’s not on the ice, Dallas is outscored 93-58.
He is vitally important to the team’s top line, and the Stars border on an overreliance on the 22-year-old second-year player to carry the team’s offense. It’s no surprise the Stars’ finishing ability improved when Robertson re-entered the lineup. Both of his goals were at the net-front on Thursday night.
“Just have a knack for going into smart areas,” Robertson said. “I can kind of look up to Joe [Pavelski], Joe has scored a lot of goals in similar areas. Just trying to find some soft ice, and I’m glad the puck was able to find my stick and go in.”
Seguin, meanwhile, submitted his best performance of the season, according to Bowness. He shifted back to center for the first time in a month and finished with five shots on goal and eight shot attempts.
“When he’s skating like that, you can just see the jump is there,” Bowness said. “I wanted to put him back at center, and he had an outstanding game for us tonight clearly. I know you note the power-play goal and the other goal, but he did a lot of really good things. He was really engaged physically tonight.”
The Stars still have plenty of work to do to escape the tension building under their season, to push off the franchise-altering decisions potentially on the horizon. A win over rebuilding Buffalo is hardly cause for celebration, but the Stars need wins any way they can get them.
Prior to Thursday’s win, Bowness was asked what buttons he would push to get the Stars out of their losing streak.
“Pride,” Bowness said. “Pride in what we do and who we are. As I’ve been telling the players the last couple of days, what’s done is done. What’s behind us is behind us. All we can focus on is tonight and moving forward.
“We’re not happy where we are, but we are where we are. We put ourselves here. Now, pride has to take over and do everything we can to push ourselves back up into a playoff spot.”
