Buffalo, NY -- Even though the Sabres entered Wednesday's home date against the Stars as winners of two straight, they had been struggling to find the back of the net. Buffalo not only picked up its third consecutive win, 5-3 against Dallas, the team also broke out of a scoring slump thanks in part to a pair of youngsters. Tyler Myers continued his Calder campaign by picking up a career-high four points -- one goal and three assists -- and Mark Mancari chipped in with two points including his first goal of the season.
Myers got a wild first period started by finding the back of the net less than a minute into the game. Myers beat Dallas netminder Marty Turco at the 55 second mark to give the Sabres an early -- albeit shortlived -- lead. The Stars struck back a little over two minutes later when Toby Petersen got on the board with his 8th of the year. It took only five minutes for Buffalo to get the lead back, thanks to Mancari's first goal of the season. Craig Rivet, behind the Stars net, fed the puck in front to Mancari who was able to put it past Turco, good for a 2-1 Sabres lead. Goals by Steve Ott and Jamie Benn, however, put Dallas in front for the first time as the opening frame ticked to a close; but not before a Myers blast from the blue line deflected off Jason Pominville and into the net, making it a 3-3 game after 20 minutes.
Mancari, making the most of his promotion, contributed yet again in the second period when he found a wide open Thomas Vanek standing directly in front of the Dallas crease. Vanek converted for his team-leading 20th goal and put the Sabres back in front by one. Buffalo shut the Stars down during the final 20 minutes and clinched the win thanks to an empty net goal by Derek Roy.
The Sabres are once again all alone atop the Northeast Division, two points better than the idle Senators and with two games in hand on Ottawa. Buffalo hits the ice again on Friday when the team plays host to the Minnesota Wild. Hear the play by play with Rick Jeanneret and Harry Neale on the Buffalo Sabres Radio Network at 7:30 p.m.
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