Red Wings win in shootout to down Sabres

Photo by: Bill Wippert/Getty Images

It took more than an effort of regulation for the Red Wings to come out victorious Wednesday night. The 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres allowed them to end a four-game losing streak to go forward to enjoying the holiday. Gustav Nyquist and Tomas Vanek came up big in the shootout to give them a well-deserved win at the KeyBank Center

The Red Wings hoped to end two bad runs in their recent spill of troubles. The first was their four-game skid while on the road where they hoped to end things well before the holiday. The second was their offense and its need to defeat opponents while preventing one goal victories as well as further losses. Jimmy Howard has remained a strong force for Detroit but the support joining him on the ice required a strong response on both sides of the puck. When playing Buffalo on the road they are 8-0-1 in their recent history.

They nearly gave the Sabres an early lead but the whistle of the referee was blown before the horn went off. It was a save for the Red Wings who were already being outshot in the opening minutes. They began to get some speed taking the game to goaltender Robin Lehner in net for Buffalo. By the time they reached the halfway point of the period, Detroit evened up on shots to the net with five.

They couldn’t create further chances after surpassing the first ten minutes as they watched Buffalo take the game to Howard taking another four. The frustration of that turned into a bad moment for the Red Wings as Vanek handed them a four-minute power play on a double minor. Though they killed the first 40-plus seconds, Detroit would go into the second period dealing with the large power play left on the clock.

The Detroit PK got the team out of trouble after four minutes but still had trouble getting a push on pucks to the Sabres net. An opportunity came in the shape of a power play that was their first of the game. The Red Wings once again let the man advantage slip away. They gained another one in the ninth minute that only increased their shots ahead of Buffalo.

Things began to slow down, but as the period came near to close, the Red Wings had to try and put one on the board to make a statement. They did so during an even strength play that began with rookie Ryan Sproul. His stretch pass to Tomas Vanek allowed the Austrian to set up Nyquist with a brilliant snipe that gave him his first goal in 14 games. The period ended with the Red Wings on a good footing but still had 20 more minutes left to compete in.

Buffalo answered them in the third minute of the period with Evander Kane set up Sabres captain Brian Gionta a solid scoring chance. He went in front of Howard getting a piece of his stick on the puck to slide it behind the goal line. The Red Wings immediately challenged the call stating that Gionta interfered with Howard in net. Officials checked the video and saw there was no interference maintaining the good goal and Gionta’s fourth of the year.

To make matters worse for Detroit, they had to fight off a penalty just a minute later that did not result in an increase in their score. It didn’t stop from being a powerful enemy against the Red Wings who struggled to be the stronger of the two. Time quickly fell off the clock as both goaltenders did whatever they could to prevent a slip-up with opportunities becoming less. The intensity for the Sabres came to its highest point in the final two minutes where they took a combination of shots and second chances to get the go-ahead behind Howard. The Red Wings net minder did fantastic to stop their efforts leading to a force of overtime and an important point to their names.

Anthony Mantha came out swinging during the overtime session nearly scoring the game winner during the opening minute. His attempts got the Red Wings pressing the situation hoping to be first to score. They fought with Buffalo to get it out of their zone but it was a difficult task. Ryan O’Reilly and Rasmus Ristolainen were going big on ending it before the end of the period but Howard stopped it just in the nick of time. The final minute was all on Howard to stop the Sabres leading both teams to move into a shootout.

Howard made a big stop to start the session with Gustav Nyquist coming up huge with the opening goal. Sam Reinhart scored for Buffalo making it critical for Detroit to keep the edge. They got it done with Vanek pulling a solid trick in front of Lehner that put them up 2-1. Howard’s save on Cal O’Reilly gave the Red Wings a very important victory that gladly snapped the four-game losing streak.

“I was sticking with it, battling, keeping the composure throughout the lineup,” Howard said to Fox Sports Detroit reporter Trevor Thompson. “We found a way to get the extra point here.” After an enjoyment of Thanksgiving, the Red Wings will get back at it meeting the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.