BUFFALO – The Detroit Red Wings rode a 32-save effort from Jimmy Howard to a 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres in a shootout Wednesday night.
Former Sabres Thomas Vanek scored the winner in the skills competition.
“Once [the fans] booed me, I figured I had to show them the move they’ve seen before,” Vanek said. “Yeah, obviously, I wanted to score for our team, but once that happened, I wanted to score even more.”
WATCH: All Red Wings vs. Sabres highlights
Robin Lehner took the loss for Buffalo on 23 saves.
The win helped Detroit snap a four-game slide.
“It’s a big deal to get two points,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “When you haven’t had enough points, you’ve got to find a way to win, and sometimes it’s not as pretty as you want it to be and there are moments where it wasn’t pretty, but we found a way to two points, and that’s a good thing for us. We’ve got to build on it and get better.”
For Howard, it was a successful return to the lineup after missing five games due to injury.
“It feels good; just feels good coming into the room after that,” Howard said. “[It’s] feeling like a lot of weight lifting off our shoulders. It feels good going into Thanksgiving.”
Gustav Nyquist scored for the Wings in regulation to give them a 1-0 lead; Brian Gionta got the Sabres even early in the third period.
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