Jake Oettinger made a career-high 47 saves and Sam Steel scored the go-ahead goal at 9:04 of the second period on Tuesday, lifting the visiting Dallas Stars to a 2-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.
The 47 saves were the most in a regular-season game for Oettinger, whose personal-best save total was 64, set during Dallas’ 3-2 overtime loss to the Calgary Flames in Game 7 of a Western Conference first-round playoff series on May 15, 2022.
Matt Duchene scored a power-play goal early in the first period for the Stars, who won their fourth consecutive contest to extend their point streak to six games (5-0-1).
Dallas’ Joe Pavelski won 13 of his 17 faceoff draws while playing in his 1,300th career regular-season game. The Stars held a 49-33 advantage in faceoffs and recorded 23 blocked shots.
Tage Thompson scored a power-play goal in the second period and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen turned aside 28 shots for the Sabres, who have lost three of their past five games.
Dallas benefited from a fortunate bounce to record the eventual game-winning goal.
Craig Smith fired a shot from above the left circle that handcuffed Luukkonen. Radek Faksa alertly spotted a loose puck and sent it toward the net, where it appeared to carom off Steel’s skate and into the goal for the latter’s sixth tally of the season.
Oettinger preserved the slim advantage by denying Dylan Cozens’ one-timer in the slot early in the third period.
Dallas made Thompson pay for committing a hooking penalty in his own zone by opening the scoring with a power-play goal.
Tyler Seguin fired a diagonal pass from the right-wing boards to Duchene, who used Buffalo defenseman Erik Johnson as a screen before wristing a shot from the left circle that sailed inside the near post. Duchene’s goal was his 18th of the season and third in as many games.
Thompson atoned for his penalty by unleashing a one-timer from the left circle that beat Oettinger to forge a 1-1 tie at 5:53 of the second period. It was Thompson’s 15th goal of the season and first since he tallied twice on Jan. 11.
–Field Level Media
