Jamie Benn scored two goals, and Antti Niemi made 22 saves to help the Dallas Stars to a 3-0 win against the Buffalo Sabres at American Airlines Center on Saturday. The Stars have won five in a row.
Benn scored his goals 1:53 apart in the third period to break open a close game. His first goal came off a rebound with Dallas on the power play at 7:11 of the third. He scored his NHL-leading 14th of the season off the rush at 9:04 to give the Stars a 3-0 lead. Tyler Seguin had an assist on each of Benn's goals.
The shutout was Niemi's second of the season and the 34th of his NHL career.
Niemi's biggest save might have come 15 seconds into the game when he turned away Matt Moulson at the near post after a turnover inside the Dallas zone.
Antoine Roussel, who turned 26 on Saturday, opened the scoring at 6:22 of the first period on a wrist shot from the left point that deflected off Buffalo defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen's stick before going under the glove of goaltender Chad Johnson, who made 29 saves. Through two periods, the Stars had a 15-13 advantage in shots on goal.
Buffalo, lost a fourth straight game, went on a 5-on-3 power play after Dallas defenseman Jyrki Jokipakka was penalized for delay of game three seconds before the first intermission. The Sabres were already on the man-advantage following an interference call on Roussel with 1:09 remaining in the first.
Buffalo killed off a four-minute Dallas power play resulting from Evander Kane's double minor for high sticking against Roussel at 8:54 of the second.
Jamie Oleksiak, who was filling in for Jordie Benn (illness) on the Stars' third defense pair, drew a holding penalty on Sabres forward Tyler Ennis to set up Jamie Benn's power-play goal.
Before that goal, Buffalo had held the Dallas power play, which is second in the NHL (27.7 percent), to 0-for-4 with two shots on goal. Jason Demers sustained a lower-body injury in the second period and did not return.
Stars Quotes
Jamie Benn: "Everybody's contributing, and that's why we've been successful."Lindy Ruff: "I thought the third period was as good period as we could have played. We're in a good spot, we're up a goal, and I thought the team did a great job. Sometimes that's a hard game, because [Niemi] didn't have a lot of action. He had probably four or five really good saves for us to keep the game where it was at. We'll see how [Demers] is tomorrow, but I think he'll miss a little bit of time."
Antti Niemi: "It's always nice (to get the shutout), but I just worry about the win."
Antoine Roussel: "It's great. I don't think I ever scored on my birthday, maybe once in junior, but it's great. It gives you a lot of confidence going into the game, and it was nice."
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