Sabres skate past Stars for franchise-record-tying 10th straight win
Tage Thompson logged two goals and an assist as the Buffalo Sabres tied a franchise record with their 10th straight win, beating the host Dallas Stars 4-1 on Wednesday.
Josh Doan and Bowen Byram each had a goal and an assist and Noah Ostlund notched two assists for the Sabres, who also won 10 in a row in 1983-84, 2006-07 and 2018-19. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 28 saves for his third consecutive victory.
Mavrik Bourque scored and Casey DeSmith stopped 27 shots for the Stars, who have lost three straight (0-2-1). Dallas hadn't dropped three in a row since an 0-3-1 stretch in October.
Bourque gave Dallas a 1-0 lead 15 seconds into the contest. Luukkonen stopped Miro Heiskanen's point shot that deflected off Jason Robertson's stick, but the rebound bounced in front and Bourque got his stick on it to put it past Luukkonen stick side.
Buffalo wasn't fazed and pushed the pace in the opening period in pursuit of the equalizer but still trailed 1-0 at the first intermission.
The Sabres finally broke through at 7:44 of the second period, courtesy of Doan. Thompson gathered a loose puck at the Stars' blue line, held it in the corner and then took it behind the net, where he protected it before feeding Doan in the left circle for a snap shot that beat DeSmith short side to tie it 1-1.
Byram put the Sabres ahead 2-1 at 17:05 of the middle frame. Ostlund took a short pass from Alex Tuch inside the defensive zone and sent it across the ice into the neutral zone for Byram, who had jumped up on the other side. The defenseman then carried it to the right circle and snapped it far side.
Thompson pushed the lead to 3-1 at 9:21 of the third period. DeSmith stopped Byram's shot from the blue line and Doan's whack at the rebound, but Thompson wouldn't be denied on the doorstep blocker side.
Thompson tallied his 20th of the season to make it 4-1 just over two minutes later. He took a centering feed from Ostlund at the top of the slot and fired a snap shot inside the right post.