The Dallas Stars shut out the Buffalo Sabres 4-0 on Thursday night at KeyBank Center, with Mikko Rantanen recording a goal and three assists for four points. Jake Oettinger made 26 saves for his second straight shutout, following a 13-save effort in Monday’s 5-0 win over San Jose.
Jason Robertson opened the scoring in the first period at 9:03, finishing a play set up by Rantanen and Wyatt Johnston. Buffalo could not solve Oettinger from there, and Dallas broke the game open with three goals in the second period. Sam Steel, Rantanen and Roope Hintz all scored in the middle frame, with Johnston picking up an assist on each of the three second-period goals to finish with three helpers on the night.
Key Moments: How The Stars Pulled Away
Robertson’s goal at 9:03 of the first period put Dallas ahead 1-0 and held up until the second, when the Stars turned a tight game into a laugher. Steel scored on a snap shot at 9:36 of the second period, assisted by Thomas Harley and Rantanen, to make it 2-0. Less than four and a half minutes later, Rantanen buried a backhand off feeds from Nils Lundkvist and Johnston for a 3-0 lead.
Hintz capped the scoring with a power-play goal, snapping a Dallas power play that had gone 0-for-9 on the season before the tally. Johnston assisted on that goal as well, and Dallas finished 1-for-2 with the man advantage while Buffalo went 0-for-3.
Top Performers
Rantanen led all skaters with four points on a goal and three assists, the most productive game of the young season for the Stars winger. Johnston matched him with three assists of his own. Oettinger stopped all 26 shots he faced for Dallas. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 14 saves for Buffalo.
Dallas won 38 of 61 faceoffs for a 62.3% clip and blocked 17 shots to Buffalo’s eight.
What It Means
The win moved Dallas to 2-2-0 on the season, its second straight victory after dropping its first two games. It also snapped a two-game winning streak for Buffalo, which entered the night 2-2-0 after taking the first two games of a five-game homestand. The season series now favors Dallas 1-0.
In the Central Division, the Stars sit at four points, tied with Colorado. In the Atlantic, Buffalo remains at four points, tied with Toronto.
What’s Next
Dallas travels to face the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night, looking to extend its winning streak to three. Buffalo returns home to host the Utah Mammoth the same night as it tries to bounce back from the shutout loss. Box score and game details are available via ESPN’s game recap and NHL.com’s coverage.
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