Buffalo vs. Dallas Review

1st Period:

The opening period was, to say the least, quite boring. There were a total of 17 shots, but it felt more like three. Kari Lehtonen made some key saves, especially on the slapper from Tyler Myers, that kept Dallas from falling behind. Cody McCormick's misstep (roughing) was the only opportunity the Stars needed. Alex Goligoski sent a bomb from the point that was deflected directly in front of Ryan Miller by Michael Ryder. The Sabres went into the locker room down one.

2nd Period:

The second period was also filled with a few yawns. That's not to say there weren't exciting moments however. Lehtonen stood on his head to preserve his team's lead once again. This included a phenomenal glove save on Drew Stafford. It's hard to imagine giving a goal scorer that much time and not paying a price. The Stars, as referenced in Lindy Ruff's press conference, did a great job clogging up the neutral zone. The Sabres once again left the ice trailing.

3rd Period:

The third period didn't start off as Buffalo had planned, or hoped. Early in the period, Steve Ott flew into the offensive zone, separating Christian Ehrhoff from the puck. Jamie Benn picked up the loose puck and dished a perfect pass to Tomas Vincour who buried the Stars' second tally. Buffalo immediately responded. After Radek Dvorak was sent off for hooking, Thomas Vanek capitalized on the power play with a beautiful deflection set up by Jason Pominville. Puck movement on the power play is essential. It appeared as though Buffalo was going to fall short until the Dallas Stars iced the puck. With about 45 seconds left, Paul Gaustad went to work in the face off circle, as usual. He won it back to Jason Pominville who dropped it off to Myers. After the shot got through to Lehtonen, a mad scrum was finalized by a Derek Roy goal.

OT & SO:

An exciting OT finished with a 2-on-0 that saw Ehrhoff drop a pass between his legs to a wide open Vanek. He couldn't lift the puck and Lehtonen made the save of the game with no time left in OT. The shootout took five rounds and finished with a Sykora-esque backhand by Nathan Gerbe (#backhandswork).

Final: Sabres 3, Stars 2

After the game, Ruff highlighted the importance of having veterans back in the lineup. The Sabres are going to need this kind of composure to stay in the playoff hunt.