Power scores in OT, Sabres defeat Stars in 3rd straight victory

Owen Power scored his first goal of the season 56 seconds into overtime to give the Buffalo Sabres a 3-2 win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Monday.

"Yeah, it's nice," Power said. "I mean, obviously it's been a long time coming, so it was obviously a nice feeling. Hopefully [I] can get some more."
Power, the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, scored short side from the bottom of the right face-off circle, his third career goal in 51 games. Tage Thompson sent him a backhand pass from the slot between Dallas forward Roope Hintz and defenseman Miro Heiskanen.
"Just kind of had that open space there, and 'Tommer' made an unbelievable play," Power said. "It was nice to get it."

Rasmus Dahlin and Victor Olofsson scored for the Sabres (24-19-3), who have won three straight and four of six. Craig Anderson made 29 saves in his 700th NHL game.
"[Buffalo coach Don Granato] and the boys here have been great as far as instilling confidence in yourself and the group," Anderson said. "You just keep chugging along and whatever the milestone might be, the milestone is. The love of the game is for real. I keep enjoying coming to the rink with these guys, I'm enjoying the time. It doesn't feel like it's been that long."
Jason Robertson and Jamie Benn scored, Joe Pavelski had two assists and Jake Oettinger made 22 saves for the Stars (28-13-8), who had won two in a row and three of four.
"You have to give Craig Anderson some credit," Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said. "He won his 700th game. I coached him in Florida 15 years ago. He has had a great career and if you look at his numbers this year, he is [41] years old and he is doing that every night, so I put it on him.
"The other night (against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday), we were up 4-0 on less-than-that quality of chances. Our group knows how to finish, and I give the goalie credit for the first 10 minutes."
Olofsson put the Sabres ahead 2-1 at 1:44 of the third period, scoring in his fourth straight game on a one-timer from the right circle off the rush before Robertson scored from in front to tie it 2-2 at 5:58.
"We needed one," Pavelski said. There's chemistry for sure. Loose puck got out to 'Robo,' and he did what he's done all year to finish it off. It felt good. The first was really good, I think.
"The first 10 [minutes] we were all over them, but we didn't extend that lead. In the second, we kind of got caught in our own end and not winning battles. That's something we need to fix."

Benn gave the Stars a 1-0 lead at 1:48 of the first period on the power play, scoring in his second straight. Uncovered at the side of the net, he took a cross-ice pass from Hintz and his initial attempt hit Anderson's skate before rebounding back to his stick for the tap-in.
Dahlin then tied it 1-1 at 11:29 on a one-timer from the blue line, setting a new career high with his 14th goal.
"I think [overtime is] one area we have to get better," Hintz said. "We need to get more points from those. That's the one area we need to focus on and get better."
Dallas outshot Buffalo 14-8 in the first, including a 10-0 advantage through the first half of the period.
"[Anderson] was amazing the first 10 minutes, outstanding," Granato said. "We were able to collect ourselves after the first period by him holding us in there. Dahlin had a huge goal at the end of the first to go into intermission tied 1-1. We could've been down by 4-1 or 5-1. Our guys at that point understood the competitive level of the game, and we rose to it.
"Our second period was great and the third and overtime, you have our oldest player in Anderson do what he did early on that was so important, and then our youngest player finishes it off, first with the goal post in overtime and then with the goal in overtime. Heck of a night for Owen all the way through this one."
NOTES: Olofsson has nine goals in his past 10 games. … Power (20 years, 62 days) is the third-youngest defenseman and fifth-youngest player in Sabres history to score in overtime. … Power was eight days old when Anderson made his NHL debut Nov. 30, 2002. … Thompson had two assists to extend his point streak to four games (one goal, four assists). … Hintz played 14:38 and had one shot on goal in his return after missing seven games with an upper-body injury. ... Benn scored his 98th career power-play goal, tying Dave Gagner for fourth-most in Stars/Minnesota North Stars history. … Benn's goal marked the sixth time this season Dallas has scored within the first two minutes of a game, the third-highest total in the NHL behind the Nashville Predators (nine), Vancouver Canucks (eight) and Tampa Bay Lightning (eight).