Back in black for a Sunday matinee at American Airlines, the Stars host the Buffalo Sabres in the second and final meeting of the season. The Stars are coming off a 2-1 shootout loss to Nashville on Thursday but remain just two points behind Edmonton for the second wild card spot.
The Stars have gone 6-3-1 in their last 10 games and finished a stretch of eight straight against Central Division opponents. They went 5-2-1 over that span with victories over Nashville, Winnipeg (twice), Colorado and Chicago. Following Sunday's game vs. Buffalo and Wednesday's against LA, the Stars will hit the road for a three-game trip through Winnipeg, Minnesota and Nashville.
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The first meeting between the Stars and Sabres saw Dallas take a 5-4 victory at KeyBank Center. It kickstarted a perfect four-game road trip for the Stars, who went on to beat Detroit, Philadelphia and New Jersey. Five Stars recorded multi-point performances in the win in Buffalo, led by John Klingberg, who matched a career high with four points (all assists). Tyler Seguin and Jason Robertson recorded two goals and an assist, and Roope Hintz (one goal, one assist) and Joe Pavelski (two assists) added two points. Goaltender Braden Holtby stopped 20 of the 24 shots.
Seguin has had the scoring touch against the Sabres as of late with points in each of his last two games against them and 10 points (four goals, six assists) in his last 10. He's recorded 15 goals (six goals, nine assists) against the Sabres at home, including eight points (two goals, six assists) in his last seven games. The 30-year-old forward leads the Dallas with 13 goals and 28 points in 30 games against Buffalo.
Buffalo enters Sunday's matchup riding a five-game losing streak and a 2-7-1 record over its last 10. The Sabres are coming off a 5-3 loss two nights ago in St. Louis, but Stars coach Rick Bowness says it's a different team than the one they played in January.
"They're a better team," Bowness said. "They came out at St. Louis hard. They got an early goal. I talked to the team about it. If we want to make the playoffs, we've got to consistently start beating teams beneath us in the standings. At the same time, you better respect them because they're a better team now than they were last month and gave St. Louis all they could handle."
Great seats are still available for today's game against the Buffalo Sabres! Get your tickets now!
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Kyle Shohara is the Digital Manager for DallasStars.com and writes about the Stars/NHL. Follow him on Twitter @kyleshohara.
