Dallas Stars: Why Win Over Buffalo Will Make Them A Stronger Team

The Dallas Stars finished off a long four-game road trip with a dominant 7-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres. Though it may not seem like it, a win like that can really help a team reach new heights.

Let’s be honest: you probably didn’t expect the Dallas Stars to lose to the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. On the other hand, you also probably didn’t expect the Stars to turn in a 3-0-1 record for their four-game road trip. Yet, that is exactly what happened.

The Stars closed out a six-day road trip on Saturday afternoon with an early game against the Sabres. Dallas carried a 2-0-1 record on the trip into Buffalo in hopes of making the trip a successful one with one final win. And from the first drop of the puck, it was pretty evident that the Stars would walk away with two points.

Dallas controlled almost every aspect of the game for the entire 60 minutes. Six different Stars scored goals, their special teams played well, and Kari Lehtonen was solid. The Stars pinned seven goals on the Sabres and showed no mercy in what resulted in a 7-1 beatdown.

The win helped the Stars cap off their trip on a surprisingly impressive 3-0-1 note. That’s a great way to end a road trip for a team that has struggled extensively when away from home this season.

Dallas Stars

But this win could potentially mean a lot more for the Dallas Stars than just two points. Sure, those points are helpful in the standings race, but the effects of a dominant win like this could reach far.

You’re probably thinking: Well, it was Buffalo and they’re terrible. The Stars were supposed to smack them around.

And while that is true, it doesn’t matter. The fact of the matter is that Dallas did beat them, and showed a lot of poise and promise while doing it. We would be very worried if Dallas didn’t win the game, but they did the exact opposite. And a lot can be taken out of a performance like that.

First off, it’s good for their offense. Head coach Ken Hitchcock seemed to have found the perfect combination of lines yesterday. All four lines provided consistent pressure and nine of their 12 forwards tallied at least one point. Depth players like Remi Elie, Radek Faksa, Tyler Pitlick, and Mattias Janmark all found the back of the net while high-caliber players like Tyler Seguin and Alexander Radulov simply filled in as role players. It was a nice change of pace for the offense.

But it wasn’t just the forwards that put in work. Three defensemen tallied points as well, including John Klingberg, Esa Lindell, and Stephen Johns. Klingberg and Lindell registered three points each and helped bolster the offensive attack. In addition to contributing in the offensive zone, all three pairings for Dallas played well in the defensive zone, giving up minimal chances and preserving the dominant lead.

More From Blackout Dallas: NHL Made Right Choice By Selecting Seguin, Klingberg For ASG

And in addition to the performance of the defense, Kari Lehtonen was stellar in the crease. The Big Finn stopped 26 of 27 shots and earned his second straight win. He hasn’t had a big role for the team over the past month, but when he’s called on, he’s answering the bell. Lehtonen is 7-5-1 this season with a .914 save percentage and 2.42 goals against average. Six of his seven wins have come on the road and he has posted a .938 SV% or higher in four of his last five starts.

More from Editorials

• Dallas Stars hockey is about to be the main attraction in Dallas this year
• Age Before Beauty: The impact of Benn’s new role on his Dallas legacy
• Dallas Stars hockey is the light at the end of the tunnel
• Dallas Stars coverage is lacking and it’s very concerning to be honest
• Sit back, relax and watch Jim Nill and the Dallas Stars draft scouts cook

This win also helped paint a picture of how far the Stars have come. In the first half of the season, the Stars struggled with bouncing back from tough losses. This would often result in the formation of losing skids and contributed to the Stars losing valuable progress that they had built up.

But this win could be a sign of changes to come. The Dallas Stars started up play last Saturday after a week off with a weak 4-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. With the loss threatening to push Dallas from the playoff picture, they set out on the road for a week. Playing away from the AAC had been a problem for the Stars for a majority of the season. But the Stars responded in a big way.

They bounced back from the tough loss to Colorado with two wins in a row. And after a hard-fought game against Columbus on Thursday that ended in a shootout loss, the Stars rebounded and crushed the Sabres on Saturday.

The Dallas Stars are quickly learning how to respond to “wake up call” games and are coming back stronger from each defeat. They are taking the negatives from their losses and turning them into positives in the following matchup. That’s a great strength to have as the second half of the season approaches.

Overall, it was an impressive all-around team win. It helped close out the road trip on a high note and gave them a glimpse of just how powerful this team can be when everything is clicking.

Now of course, the competition isn’t always going to be as easy as Buffalo. They are a struggling team, and the Stars made that evident in a dominant victory. But if the Stars are running at the speed that they were yesterday, it will be tough for just about any NHL team to slow them down.

Next: Stars Have An Elite D-man In John Klingberg

Yesterday’s win helped show them what they are capable of. Now it’s simply a matter of following up with more of that.