Stars hope to fix 'mindset' vs. Sabres after drubbing

It had been 10 years since the Dallas Stars had endured a night like Thursday.

Their 8-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets marked the first time since November 2016 that the team allowed eight goals. It prompted a lengthy players-only meeting after the game, an opportunity to discuss and address the problems that have crept into their game.

With that behind them, they'll look to put forth a better showing when they host the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.

"It's shocking, obviously uncharacteristic of us," goalie Jake Oettinger said. "It's not good enough and every guy needs to be better, including myself."

Oettinger allowed six goals on 27 shots before he was pulled in the third period. Despite entering Thursday on a personal three-game winning streak, Oettinger has struggled to keep opposing teams off the scoreboard. He's given up at least three goals in five of his past six starts; he's made 93 saves on 114 shots faced in those five outings -- a save percentage of .816.

"It's not the first time in my career I've been pulled," Oettinger said. "... Goals are going to go in, but it's that next shift, how do you respond? For me, it's how do you make a big save after you let in a goal? We can do that as a team, and I can do that in net. Both things can be better."

Dallas led 2-0 after the first period against Winnipeg and retook the lead after the Jets tied it in the second period, but then the game unraveled, with the Jets scoring three times in the last 6:05 of the frame to pull away.

"The fix is a mindset," Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan said. "... After the first goal in the second period, we have a mindset of, ‘OK, now we've got to get it back right away, and we will do whatever we can to get it back.' That's the wrong mindset. The right mindset is just to stay with your game and keep building it back up."

The Sabres, meanwhile, set out to snap a three-game skid. Buffalo is coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday, a game in which a 2-1 first-period lead held up through 40 minutes before Chicago tied it in the third.

"Getting the point is OK, but we've got to start winning games," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said.

Buffalo has had a middling start, sitting at 8-7-4 and struggling to string together victories. The Sabres have had just two winning streaks -- one of two games and another of three. It's a step forward from this point last season, when they hadn't won more than two straight and were winless on the road until they rallied to collect their first one on Nov. 15.

This season, the road has been a better place for the Sabres, who are 4-1-4 as the visitors. That lone regulation loss came in their season opener against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 1.

"We're just going to focus one game at a time," forward Tage Thompson said. "Same kind of mentality we had last year when we started to get hot. I don't think we're looking to go on a miracle run like we did last year; I think we're looking to be more consistent."