Stars Edge Sabres
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DALLAS — The Dallas Stars needed a win for two reasons. One, they wanted to finish their homestand on a high, and two, to were attempting to keep alive their ever-dwindling playoff hopes.
Thanks to left winger Jamie Benn (two goals, assist), right winger Patrick Eaves (goal, assist) and center Cody Eakin, who had the game-winner with 3:14 remaining in regulation, Dallas accomplished both goals, edging the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 at American Airlines Center on Monday.
“It wasn’t our cleanest game,” Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. “Our defense wasn’t getting up ice. Some of those execution plays that I thought were there to be made, we didn’t make them.”
Eakin’s goal, his career-high 17th of the season, came when he sent a wrist shot from the edge of the left circle into the right side of the Buffalo net. Sabres goaltender Anders Lindback was a touch late arriving to stop the shot.
“I tripped and fell, actually,” Eakin said. “(Dallas defenseman John Klingberg) has got that ability where everyone’s drawn to him, and he fed it across. I just got it on goal.”
Goalie Kari Lehtonen stopped 25 of 28 shots for Dallas, which won its
third straight. The Stars (35-28-10) finished their homestand 3-1-0.
Dallas, however, remains eight points behind the Winnipeg Jets for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference with nine games remaining.
Center Brian Gionta had two goals and left winger Matt Moulson contributed a goal and an assist for the Sabres, who lost their third straight.
Buffalo (20-46-7) struck first when Gionta ended a 10-game goal drought with his eighth of the season 13:39 into the game. Gionta tapped in a rebound after Lehtonen denied a slap shot by left winger Marcus Foligno from the left circle. It was Gionta’s first goal since Feb. 26.
The Stars tied it 29 seconds before the first intermission when Benn scored off a deflection in front of the Sabres’ net. Eaves fired a slap shot from near the Buffalo blue line, and Benn redirected it to make the score 1-1 heading to the first intermission.
Almost at the game’s midway point, Buffalo recaptured the lead when Gionta scored his second of the game via a deflection on the power play. A slap shot by left winger Johan Larsson from the right circle deflected off Moulson and Gionta before landing in the right side of the Dallas net at 11:07 of the second.
The Sabres gained the advantage at 10:11 of the second when the Stars were whistled for too many men on the ice.
Benn’s second of the night 1:56 into the third made it a 2-2 game. Benn beat Lindback to his short side with a wrist shot from the left circle for a power-play goal. Benn collected the free puck outside the circle and then tied it on a shot that deflected in off Lindback’s right pad.
Dallas was on the power play after defenseman Tyler Strachan accidentally shot the puck over the boards 54 seconds into the third period.
“I think we lead the league in shooting the puck out of the rink,” Sabres coach Ted Nolan said. “I don’t how we do it so many times.”
Moulson tapped in a rebound at 10:52 of the third to make it 3-2 Buffalo. Sabres center Tyler Ennis’ wrist shot from the slot found the crossbar, but Lehtonen lost the puck, which ended up behind him, and Moulson poked it in near the far post for his 12th of the season.
“Yeah, I didn’t know what happened,” Ennis said. “I knew I hit the crossbar. I was frustrated that it didn’t go in, and then I turned around and saw it sitting there. It was a big goal.”
Dallas tied it again at 12:35 of the third when Eaves scored his 10th of the season on a deflection. Eaves got in front of a wrist shot by center Tyler Seguin from the slot. Benn picked up his 200th career assist by feeding Seguin.
Lindback stopped 35 of 39 shots for Buffalo.
