DALLAS — Before the Dallas Stars’ 4-2 win over Buffalo on Sunday afternoon, when a newly-shorn Michael Raffl discovered that he was missing his helmet, he knew what he had to do.
“I didn’t show any weakness in that room,” Raffl said. “[My teammates] were hiding that helmet, I pretend I didn’t care. It was kind of a scary moment walking out there looking like that.”
Raffl, sporting a buzz cut instead of his normally coiffed auburn hair, put on a brave face for warmup, then followed it up by scoring two goals to lead the Stars past the Sabres. It was the first time in six years that Raffl scored twice in the same game, and his performance helped boost the Stars into a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Roope Hintz and Denis Gurianov also scored for the Stars, while Jake Oettinger made 38 saves (including 22 in the third period). With the win, the Stars jumped over the Oilers for the second Wild Card in the West. Dallas is three points behind Nashville with one game in hand for the first Wild Card.
“We haven’t done anything yet, but I’d rather see us in the eighth spot than ninth and 10th,” Stars coach Rick Bowness said. “We want to catch Nashville, there’s no question. We’ve been talking about that for a month, and I still believe we can.”
The Stars controlled the first period, outshooting Buffalo 18-6 in the opening frame, highlighted by Raffl’s tip of a Radek Faksa shot that snuck past Craig Anderson. Dallas held the Sabres without a shot on goal until 10:07 remained in the first period.
Hintz gave the Stars a 2-0 lead in the second period when he was left alone in the slot, burying his team-leading 23rd goal of the season. After Tage Thompson scored to cut the Stars lead to 2-1, Raffl scored his second goal of the afternoon, banging home a loose puck in front of the net.
After that, the Stars held on, and they held on tightly.
Buffalo outshot the Stars 23-5 in the third period, and the Sabres had a 37-8 edge in shot attempts in the final 20 minutes. Cody Eakin’s goal trimmed the Stars lead to 4-2, but the Sabres could not get any closer.
“We stop playing as a team, and we make it way too easy for the other team to play,” Bowness said. “It’s something we’ve talked about and it’s something we’re going to keep pounding at them.
“It seems to me that like when we played Boston or Pittsburgh or those teams, we bear down a lot more. We get a lead against Buffalo and we don’t give them enough respect. They’re NHL players, they’re good players.”
A win over the rebuilding Sabres was the expectation on Sunday, but it was nonetheless important for the Stars to follow through. Dallas has left points on the table against lesser competition, getting swept by Ottawa, losing at home to Montreal and losing last Sunday in Arizona.
Before Stars practice on Saturday, Bowness reinforced how important games against non-playoff teams are.
“We want to make the playoffs, we’ve got to start beating the teams that are under us consistently,” Bowness said Saturday. “At the same time, the same night, you better respect them because they are a better team now than they were last month.”
Raffl’s goals gave the Stars a leg up, even if his poise showing off his new haircut during warmup was artificial: “Just got to pretend you’re very confident and go out there.”
“In this league, there’s no easy games,” Raffl said. “Everybody has skill on their teams, and if you let them make plays and you get a little loose, you’ve seen it in the third, all of a sudden, they take it to you. It was not an easy effort today, Otter played great.”
Holtby’s wait: As Oettinger continues his hot streak, Braden Holtby remains a spectator.
Holtby has played just one game since Jan. 28, as Oettinger’s start Sunday against Buffalo was his 10th in the last 11 Stars games. Holtby has not won a game since Jan. 25 at New Jersey.
“Clearly, we’re going to get him back in at some point,” Bowness said Saturday after practice. “But Jake’s playing really, really well right now. Braden’s a pro, and he’s a great character and a great teammate. You can see him in practice working his butt off. When his name is called, he’ll be ready to go.”
The Stars have an off day Monday and practice Tuesday before hosting the Kings on Wednesday at American Airlines Center. The Stars don’t have a back-to-back until March 19-20 at the Islanders and Capitals, a stretch that’s part of three games in four nights (and four games in six nights).
Power play drought over: The Stars went 1-for-3 on the power play Sunday, ending a stretch of 16 straight failed power-play opportunities. Before Denis Gurianov tipped Esa Lindell’s shot in the third period, the Stars had not scored on the power play since Joe Pavelski’s second-period goal in Colorado on Feb. 15.
“I know we got a power play goal tonight, power play got outworked again,” Bowness said. “They’re getting outworked. We’ll put [Radek Faksa’s] line out there if we have to because I can’t stand getting the power play outworked.
“Our penalty killers have been good because they’re outworking the other team’s power play. The other team’s penalty kill is outworking our power play.”
The Stars also debuted new power play units against the Sabres.
On the top unit, Joe Pavelski was at the net-front, Roope Hintz in the left circle, Miro Heiskanen in the right circle, Jason Robertson in the slot and John Klingberg at the point. On the second unit, Jamie Benn was at the net-front, Tyler Seguin in the left circle, Denis Gurianov in the right circle, Alexander Radulov in the slot and Ryan Suter at the point.
Lindell was on the ice for the end of the power play as the Stars prepared to go back to even strength.
Dallas worked on its power play during Saturday morning’s practice, using a drill designed to move the puck quickly. The Stars put three penalty killers in the offensive zone, and asked them to pressure the puck relentlessly without structure.
“Sometimes, you get too casual on your power play, which was the case the last couple games,” Bowness said Saturday. “We throw in a drill to make them move the puck. Usually, when you’re working on power play, you’re working on penalty kill. We weren’t working on penalty kill. We were going ‘Go, go, go,’ make the power play work. Make them move the puck quicker. Make them put it on sticks as opposed to getting it, hanging onto it and getting sloppy with it.”
Briefly: Defenseman Thomas Harley picked up his first career point on Sunday with a secondary assist on Raffl’s first goal.
