Om Tuesday night, the Detroit Red Wings lost the Sabres, 7-3, in Buffalo.
The loss dropped the Red Wings out of the second Wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. They are even in points with the New York Islanders, who have a game in hand.
Buffalo took most of the suspense out out of the building when they took a 4-1 lead after 20 minutes of play.
They held a 7-2 lead going into the third period.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 21 saves in the win.
The Sabres moved to 31-30-5, and have won seven of their last 10 matches.
The first period was all Buffalo, and the Red Wings were skated around, over, and through in the falling behind, 4-1.
Alex Tuch opened the scoring in the when he staked the Sabres to a 1-0 lead with 67 seconds gone in the game. .
“We knew that they were coming back from a West Coast road trip and had a tough travel day yesterday,” Tuch said. “We’ve been in their shoes, been in their position where when you come back from the road, come back east, it’s really hard to get your legs back under you and adjust to the time change. So, we wanted to start hard and fast, and we were able to do so tonight.”
Bowen Byram , who had a double in the win, potted his first at 10:09 of the first, scoring off a deflection.
“Coming to a new team, you definitely want to help the team win any way you can,” Byram said. “If that’s scoring goals, blocking shots or playing physical, good [defense], whatever it might be, it’s a good feeling to be helping out there. I thought we had a lot of guys that played well tonight and, like I’ve been saying, we’ve got to continue that down the stretch.”
Detroit’s Ben Chiarot trimmed the deficit to 2-1 when he scored at 12:37.
Zach Benson replied for the Sabres with seven minutes left in the first for a 3-1 advantage,scoring off a shot form the left circle.
Jeff Skinner closed out then scoring in the first period at 15:29 to balloon the lead to 4-1 headed to the second period.
Detroit dropped 33-26-6 off their sixth straight loss.
“Obviously, we all know that game we just put out there wasn’t what we need at this time of year, and especially with the circumstances that we have on hand,” Detroit’s Jeff Petry said. “So, I think everybody realizes that and knows that we have to be better.”
In the middle frame, the Sabres added three more markers to the Red Wings’ single.
The Sabres scored first on a strike by Connor Clifton extended at 4:27 of the middle frame for a 5-1 lead.
Byram collected his double at 9:05, scoring off a rebound for a 6-1 lead.
Detroit stopped the run with a goal from Lucas Raymond at 9:29, scoring from the slot for a 6-2 count.
JJ Peterka +responded four minutes later for a 7-2 score headed to the third period.
“This is not on the goaltending at all. We left the goalies out to dry,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “Poor Alex, in the first period, didn’t have much of a chance. Your first look is Tuch coming 100 miles an hour down the middle of the ice. Like, that’s on us, a soft play up the middle, breakaway. They’re a team, if you give them easy offense, they’re going to [put you away]. That’s exactly what we did in the first period.”
Detroit added one to the final count with a marker from Jake Walman at 17:32 for the 7-3 final count on the scoreboard. 
Alex Lyon got the start, yielding four goals in the opening stanza, making 10 saves, before getting the hook in the first.
James Reimer made 22 saves in a mop up role.
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