The Dallas Stars ended their three-game losing streak Thursday night in Buffalo, downing the Sabers by a 5-4 tally, rallying twice in the contest from a two-goal deficit to claim the victory.
“We needed this one, and we got it,” Stars head coach Rick Bowness said postgame. “So, we had to stop that slide on the road, and we knew going into this road trip that if we have a successful road trip, we kind of turn our season right around. So, we got with this one tonight, and now we got to go into Detroit tomorrow and try to get another two points.”
Tyler Seguin scored two goals and added an assist, Jason Robertson scored two goals, and John Klingberg added three assists to help Dallas snap a three-game losing streak and improve to 19-16-2 on the season.
Braden Holtby made 20 saves, including all six in the third period, to hold off a Sabres comeback in the final minutes of regulation.
“If you’re going to win, your goaltender has to make some saves,” Bowness said. “Holtby made some great saves for us, no question. He’s a competitive guy … he made the saves that we needed to make, the big save.”
The win pushed Holtby’s record on the season to 7-8-0 in seventeen starts.
It not only put the Stars back in the win column, but it also ended a seven-game losing streak on the road.
If the Stars are to gain ground in the standings, they must improve their record away from American Airlines Center, and starting this crucial four-game road trip with a win can go a long way.
The Stars finished strong, but that couldn’t be said for how they started. The Stars were down 2-0 just 6:37 into the game after allowing Buffalo to score less than four minutes apart.
Despite missing the previous two games due to a lower-body injury, Robertson responded with his 14th goal and 33rd point of the season on the power play to cut the deficit in half.
“The power play struggled a little bit without him,” Bowness said. “He wasn’t even certain he was going to play today, but he felt better, so he decided to go; it’s fortunate for all of us that he decided to play, but it shows his importance to the offensive side of our team.”
Next up for the Stars is a date with Detroit tonight at 6 p.m. The Redwings come into the contest with a season record of 18-17-5. The Stars won the last meeting between the teams last November in a 5-2 victory. The game can be viewed on Bally Sports Network.