The Red Wings final home game of 2016 ended in defeat at Joe Louis Arena Tuesday night. The Buffalo Sabres in an effort to put an end to their four game slide got the job done against Detroit staying ahead in the score to win 4-3. Evander Kane had two goals on the night in a push of offense that watched their opponents struggle with shots to the net.
Detroit’s victory on Saturday against the Panthers gave them a grouping on confidence. Mix that in with the Christmas break and the Red Wings had a lot of confidence going into their lone homestand to end the month. With the celebration of the 1997 Stanley Cup team in the mix, it allowed Detroit to use their talents and play hard even if paired against the Buffalo Sabres who are struggling after losing four straight. Strength in the backend returned in the shape of Brendan Smith who missed the last dozen games due to a knee injury. His pairing with veteran Niklas Kronwall puts together an experienced line to produce results.
They were outshot early in the period but came alive with their second line taking chances on the Sabres net. Tomas Vanek had point blank shots with the puck but couldn’t break one through Buffalo goaltender Robin Lehner. Detroit took the lead away but being first on the scoreboard didn’t go their way. A play behind the net of Red Wings goalie Petr Mrazek saw Kane attempting to come in with a wraparound. His first try was off the pad, but his second crossed in front of the netminder and into the net for his seventh of the season.
The Red Wings continued to show signs of scoring but getting it through counted the most and it wasn’t yet happening for them. It led to the Sabres take a 2-0 lead on Detroit with Rasmus Ristolainen firing a shot from the blue line that caught the blade of teammate Sam Reinhart. Reinhart’s deflection went through the five hole of Mrazek to give him his eighth leaving the Red Wings furious. They let their frustrations become known before the end of the period where a scuffle between the teams occurred in front of the benches. It didn’t help the Red Wings in the end who found themselves in trouble after twenty.
The second period wasn’t going any better for them as their efforts went unanswered for a majority of the first half. A fight broke between Marcus Foligno and Anthony Mantha where the rookie got a few shots in as well as his first fighting major. Detroit made pass plays in their zone but couldn’t move the puck in to get a play together. The Sabres worked things to their advantage still holding the score to their end while the time wound down. The Red Wings managed to get on the board at 14:46 with captain Henrik Zetterberg working well once more with Mantha. A play that saw Steve Ott come into use allowed Detroit to kill the shutout for Lehner but not the lead.
Buffalo increased the margin back to a pair with Jack Eichel scoring his sixth on a wrister near Mrazek just 22 seconds later. It woke up the rest of the Detroit bench with Dylan Larkin assisting on a shot that got to Drew Miller and into the net for his second in consecutive games. His efforts not only energized the team and the crowd but made it even more appealing with one goal separating them from Buffalo. The want for fights continued once more with Kane taking on Detroit’s Smith. The Red Wings defenseman tried his best to land a few on the Buffalo forward but it ended in a stalemate. The period came to a close with Detroit outshooting them 10-6 and a lively way to carry into the third.
The Red Wings showed a lot of fight to get the game even. They took four shots in the Sabres end through five minutes of play. The offensive rushes kept coming with Vanek getting back to work one in for himself. It came on a power play at 6:33 with his shot coming on a Riley Sheahan screen in front of Lehner to give him six on the year against his former team. Just when it looked as if things were on status quo, Kane turned the tables for Buffalo. A wide open pass for captain Brian Gionta found Kane open across the other end where he scored his second of the night returning the lead to his team.
A turn of events caused concern for Lehner in net as he took a blade to the neck from teammate Zack Bogosian who tangled with Frans Nielsen in front. Lehner took a minute or two to regroup before play resumed to his right. The Sabres were playing out the time left on the clock doing everything they could to hold the lead. Mrazek left the ice giving Detroit a 6 on 5 for 90 seconds. The Red Wings took their scoring chances that were right in front but Buffalo was there to block them.
Detroit came up with the puck and shot the puck time and again but every shot was either blocked or went off the post that was not enough to help them into overtime. They took 43 shots which became the second straight game where they managed better than 40. The regulation loss hurt them once more in the standings as they begin a long seven game road trip that begins in Ottawa on Thursday.
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