Happy Roope Year: Dallas rings in 2025 with a win over Sabres

The Dallas Stars hosted the Buffalo Sabres at the American Airlines Center in their yearly New Year's Eve game. The Stars are coming off a 5-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night. After having a rough December, it's just the win the Stars needed before 2025. It was another game where it took the Stars until the second period to find the score sheet, but they would win 4-2 over the Sabres. It was a very physical hockey game for 60 minutes and lived up to the hype.

I want to give credit to Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen tonight. He played one heck of a game despite losing to the Stars tonight. I thought the Stars could have had a repeat of last year's NYE game with all the shot attempts that could have been goals tonight. If I were the Sabres front office, I would lock him up as soon as they can. That is a franchise goaltender right there. Here are the three takeaways from the win over the Sabres tonight.

Dallas Stars vs. Buffalo Sabres Recap: 3. Kept the Sabres off the board in the first period

Coming into tonight's game, I was concerned that the Sabres would take control of the game's momentum in the first period. The Stars did an excellent job keeping them off the board in the first period. It was another game where the Stars finally scored in the second period. The Sabres have an excellent franchise goaltender, and it's the reason the Stars couldn't build a lead in the first. The Stars should pat themselves on the back for keeping the Sabres off the board in the first period.

Dallas Stars vs. Buffalo Sabres Recap: 2. Power play opportunity wasn't that bad

Tonight's power play attempt by the Stars was one of the best ones I've seen in December. So many shot attempts could have gone in and given the Stars an early lead. They wouldn't have had the power play attempt without Justin Hryckowian drawing the cross-checking penalty. That's the type of power play the Stars need to run for the remainder of the season. It allowed many players to have a good chance to score. Roope Hintz was one of those players that clinked the pipe on it.

Dallas Stars vs. Buffalo Sabres Recap: 1. They grow up so fast

Wyatt Johnston played his 200th Career NHL game tonight. It feels like he was standing over in the corner of Joe Pavelski's living room just yesterday. Even though Johnston hasn't been the scoring force he was in his first two NHL seasons, he still provides a lot of leadership with all the young players on the team. Passing those words of wisdom to Mavrik Bourque and Logan Stankoven helped them this season. Cheers to another 200 games in Victory Green Wyatt.

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