Stars double up Sabres

In Dallas, Michael Raffl hit for a double, and the Stars downed the Buffalo Sabres, 4-2, on Sunday.

“Scoring goals always feels nice,” Raffl said. “It’s even nicer to get the win because these games are never easy to play. I thought we did a good job for two periods, and then kind of slipped in the third when we were on our heels a little bit and they had somewhat of a push. But you’ve got to find ways to win, and we did.”

Jake Oettinger made 38 saves in the Dallas win.

“We’ve had some really good third periods, and we have third periods like that where we just back off,” Dallas head coach Rick Bowness said. “Not back off. We get individuals and we stop playing as a team. We make it way too easy for the other team to play. It’s something we’ve talked about and something we’ll keep pounding at them.”

Tage Thompson and Cody Eakin were the Sabres strikers.

“There’s been a lot of good the last couple of games,” Eakin said. “Obviously, you don’t like the result. Maybe not complete 60-minute efforts, but there’s been a lot of good.”

The Stars improved to 29-20-3.

“I know [Oettinger] from playing with him a little bit, he’s a good goaltender,” Thompson said. “He moves so well. He gets across the net very quick, so it’s tough to get him. When you go lateral pass to a shot, he’s already over there. You’ve got to get greasy on him. You’ve got to get to the net, get a loose rebound, and try to find a way to bang one home there. He’s tough to beat clean.”

Raffl and Roope Hintz  combined to give the Stars a 2-0 lead.

The Sabres dropped to 16-30-8.

“Sometimes shots are to create a second shot, which is the better shot,” Sabres head coach Don Granato said. “When you put the puck on net, it’s behind their defenseman, and they have to dig it out to even transition. There’s more to it than just a shot, especially if you can get pressure towards the net. Our focus was obviously on getting pucks to the net but creating second chances as a result or stress as a result. I thought we were much better [in the second and third period].”

Denis Gurianov also scored for the Stars.

Craig Anderson made 27 saves in the Buffalo loss.