In Detroit, James Reimer made 25 saves, and the Red Wings ended an ugly seven-game skid with a 4-1 win over the visiting Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon. 
“I’ve been a part of a few losing streaks during my career, and they all [stink],” Reimer said. “I thought our sense of urgency was just incredible tonight. It’s a comfortable feeling back there when every guy is working that hard.”
Detroit moved to 34-27-6.
Tage Thompson staked the Sabres to a 1-0 lead at 11:22 of the opening stanza.
“That was two desperate teams going at it,” Thompson said. “We’re on their heels.”
In the middle frame, Christian Fischer hit at 5:35 to tie the game, 1-1.
“That’s just how I meant to do it,” Fischer joked. “That’s just being a bad skater — I don’t even think anyone tripped me.”
Detroit’s Patrick Kane pushed Detroit into a 3-2 lead at 17:40 of the the second, scoring off a pass from J.T. Compher.
“I think our compete level really elevated in the second period,” Lalonde said. “The [Fischer] goal got us going, but we kept so many pucks alive in the [offensive] zone with diving plays and staying right on them.”
Buffalo dropped to 32-31-5.
“We didn’t play the way we needed to play after the first period,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said. “We didn’t have the same energy and jump, and it slipped away from us.”
In the third period, the Red Wings continued to clamp down on the defensive side of the game, and added another two markers in the period.
Daniel Sprong connected at 13:52 for a 3-1 advantage to Detroit.
Lucas Raymond hit an empty net awith 67 seconds left on the game clock for the 4-1 final count on the scoreboard.
“We thought the second and third periods were going to be like the first, but they came out desperate,” Buffalo’s Rasmus Dahlin said. “We got back on our heels and never really came back.”
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 22 saves in the loss.
You must be logged in to post a comment.