In Buffalo, the visiting Dallas Stars hit for double digits on Thursday night in a 10-4 shellacking of the Sabres.
Dallas had a 5-2 lead after the fist two periods of play, and just for fun they added five more in the third period.
Nine different skaters hit for goals for the Stars, Radek Faksa scored a pair in the win.
“We had all those chances, and we were playing well defensively,” Faksa said. “We got really good four lines and that’s really important going forward, especially for playoffs.”
Jake Oettinger made 25 saves in the Dallas win.
The Stars moved to 35-17-13.
Dallas scored three times in the opening stanza to take a 3-1 lead after the first period.
Wyatt Johnston and Joe Pavelski (power play) scored for a 2-0 advantage to the Stars.
Jamie Benn extended the lead to 3-0.
“You always want to win the first one,” Benn said. “And we’ve got, obviously, a big road trip here. Some good teams ahead of us. We’re going to need guys to step up now that we might have lost one guy. So it’s going to be a big trip for us and it’s a good start.”
Newly acquired Jordan Greenway scored with 25 seconds left on the clock in the first.
The Sabres dropped to 32-28-4.
In the middle frame, it just got a little worse as the Stars scored twice to the Sabres’ once.
Joel Kiviranta pushed the Dallas advantage back to three at 4-1, before Kyle Okposo trimmed the lead back to two at 4-2 at 9:51.
“We did not have it and it was pretty evident right from the beginning,” Okposo said. “We just seemed a little bit lifeless, a little tired. It’s just tough to play this time of the year when you’re not feeling your best, and we just have to find a way to get that energy back and understand the position that we’re in.
“I know that we’re a young team, but we’re in a pretty special position with the group that we have.”
Ryan Suter scored on the other side of the midway point to send the game to the third period with the Stars comfortably in the lead, 5-2.
The Sabres’ Jeff Skinner scored early in the third for a 5-3 deficit for Buffalo.
Evgenii Dadonov replied at 9:12 of the third to give the Stars a 6-3 lead.
From there, it just got silly.
“We’ve got a lot of belief, a lot of trust in each other,” said Benn. “Guys are stepping up their game at the right time, and we’re just going to try and continue to keep that going.”
Faksa scored his double in rapid succession for a 8-3 lead to Dallas.
Roope Hintz ballooned the lead to 9-3 at 12:15 of the third.
Buffalo mustered one more goal on a strike from Victor Olofsson, but Mason Marchment then added insult with the 10th marker of the night, and the 10-4 final.
The Sabres left starter Eric Comrie in for the whole game, he made 39 saves in the loss.
“We absolutely hung him out to dry and that can’t happen,” Okoposo said. “… That’s something you learn when you’re 8 years old — you don’t hang your goalie out to dry and we did that tonight. Uncharacteristic of our group, but something that’s going to be discussed.”
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