Sabres hold shutout over Red Wings

Benoit Pouliot #67 of the Buffalo Sabres celebrates his goal against the Detroit Red Wings with teammates during an NHL game on October 24, 2017 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images)

A good push from the Buffalo Sabres gave them a well-earned at KeyBank Center Tuesday night. The lone goal from Benoit Pouliot and supreme goaltender from Robin Lehner earned them the 1-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings. It was the second time that Buffalo won back to back games since March of last season and another step in the right direction against their division rivals.

The Red Wings wanted nothing better than to end their four-game losing streak despite being on the road once again. Their hopes were alive facing the Sabres who they have dominated well against in the past. Buffalo has been on and off when it came to winning streaks and hoped to add on to their victory against the Boston Bruins.

Buffalo came out with two shots right from the start waking up the Red Wings who knew couldn’t fall back. They surged greatly over the next several minutes taking nine shots. The Sabres somehow gained a power play but didn’t convert much from it finding themselves in trouble when hanging on to the puck. The shots on goal push from the Sabres slowly gained speed but Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard and the Detroit defense stopped them as half the period was gone.

Buffalo took a new approach, rushing the puck with some focus that saw them getting pucks centered at Howard. The New York native made the key saves against the Sabres to keep them scoreless. Detroit gained one in the final minutes while the Sabres notched a dozen total before the period came to an end.

Detroit started the second period much like the way they began with scoring chances coming at Lehner. With plenty of effort, Lehner made saves against Detroit in the hopes of giving his team a shot to score first. They briefly had a power play but committed a penalty that allowed Detroit a short time on the man advantage. Buffalo denied the Red Wings from not only getting a lot of shots on net but also empty handed. In response, they went back to even strength where Pouliot got possession of the puck near the boards behind Howard. He made a quick move scoring on a wraparound that gave him his second of the season.

Pouliot’s goal had Buffalo in a good spot to keep the attack hard in the Detroit zone. The Red Wings trailed the Sabres who struggled to get enough pucks to the net and commit to the rebounds. The second half of the period saw them troubled with Dylan Larkin gaining his third consecutive penalty. While the Sabres didn’t connect on the man advantage, it gave them a lot of built up confidence to stay ahead on the shots on goal and go into the third period still leading.

Both power plays from Detroit and Buffalo were struggling as they got one each to start the period but failed to convert. When even strength returned, the Red Wings tried getting something together but they were stopped by the Sabres in the neutral zone ending their offensive runs. Time running off the clock and man to man coverage worked in favor of the Sabres who took every opportunity to pressure Howard.

When Detroit got out of trouble, they tried turning the tables and creating some opportunities to run at Lehner and get the tying goal in while they had time do so. For three minutes, the Red Wings kept the game inside the Sabres zone hoping to tire them out and level the score. They lost the chance when the teams went to 4 on 4 nearly paying the price shortly after. On a breakaway attempt, Evander Kane went on Howard taking a shot that Howard made a terrific save on. He stopped the secondary chance that reset Detroit to go back to their mission.

2:33 was left on the clock with the Red Wings still down a goal. Howard briefly went to the bench where he received instructions on Detroit’s next move. They pulled him during a break that gave Detroit six attackers for the duration. The Sabres made some serious stops with Lehner ending the play with a key stop.

Buffalo had a chance to reset where they got the chance to play back in the Red Wings end. It brought Howard back between the pipes with 91 seconds left. He left as the play left his area hoping to get the tying goal in with 1:20 left. Buffalo was all over Detroit gaining chances to kill off time and get another win. They did it with a desperate Red Wings team that went for anything while Buffalo held their ground. When the horn sounded, Buffalo had a lot to be positive about while the Red Wings suffered yet another loss.

Lehner made 32 saves in his first shutout of the season that improved him to 2-3. Howard wasn’t so lucky as he added the Sabres to a long list of teams that he wasn’t able to defeat in regulation. His second straight defeat despite having 31 saves was just another heavy hitter that extended Detroit’s losing streak to five games. The three-game road trip only got challenging as they faced the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday who were the original team to begin Detroit’s slide.