The Buffalo Sabres suffered their first blemish at home in a 4-0 loss to the Dallas Stars at KeyBank Center on Thursday.
Mikko Rantanen factored into all four Stars goals and led the way with four points (1+3). Wyatt Johnston finished the night with three points, all assists.
The Stars started the scoring just over nine minutes into the game when Jason Robertson elected to shoot on a 2-on-1 rush and beat Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen far side.
Buffalo had an opportunity to tie things up when it was awarded a power play just 1:10 into the second period still down 1-0, but couldn’t get much going on as it slipped to an 0-for-13 start on the man advantage through four games. The Sabres were scoreless on three power-play attempts on Thursday.
Dallas broke the game open with three goals in just over a six-minute span in the second period, beginning with Sam Steel deflecting a Thomas Harley point shot at 9:36 for Steel’s first tally of the season.
Rantanen made it a 3-0 game by knocking in a puck that had caromed off the glass at 13:57, and the Stars converted on the power play – their first PPG of the year – via Roope Hintz’ slot shot at 15:34. Dallas went 1-for-2 on the power play in the contest.
Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger earned the shutout, stopping all 27 Buffalo shots. It was Oettinger’s second clean sheet of the week after the Stars beat the San Jose Sharks, 5-0, on Monday. On the other end, Luukkonen made 14 saves in the loss.
