The Red Wings came into Sunday afternoon facing a “put up or shut up” scenario against the Buffalo Sabres on home ice. A scorching-hot start would be enough to slide past the Sabres and secure two key points.
Buffalo controlled possession throughout the game, but Detroit controlled the chances by blocking shots and griding out shifts. Alex Lyon played a tremendous game — stopping 37 of 38 shots.. and it was a quiet but impressive game for Simon Edvinsson.
1st Period
The game started with a surge of offense from the Red Wings. They essentially shoved three goals down Buffalo’s throath in the first 10 minutes. It started 53 seconds in with Lucas Raymond picking up a juicy giveaway to snipe his 26th goal of the season:
Then Patrick Kane got in on the fun at 4:24 of the first period:
A few minutes later, it would be Dylan Larkin getting his 31st goal of the season on the power play:
Detroit and Buffalo would trade fists in the first — literally speaking. There were a couple of fights, the notable being Joe Veleno’s tilt with Bowen Byram. The two went at it after Byram hit Veleno from behind.
Buffalo mounted some pressure in the second half of the first period and would eventually muster up a goal on a PP chance around 13:16. First period would wrap up with the score at 3-1 Red Wings.
2nd Period
20 minutes packed with goaltending highlights from both sides.
Buffalo had a lot of pressure on the Wings at points across the second period. Alex Lyon stayed steady as the team’s backbone. On the other side, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen some big saves when Detroit got their chances.
Detroit would go on the power play late in the period and produce a couple of chances but no offense. The Wings get through 20 minutes of hard-fought hockey unscatched, score still 3-1.
3rd Period
Detroit was damn-near lock down hockey in the closing stage of this game. The possession game was tilted in Buffalo’s way but the Wings gutted it out and had a ton of key blocked shots — that’s been a common theme the last few games.
The third period, and I guess the second period as well, had a very “next goal wins” kind of feeling to it. Once it got into crunch time, Detroit shifted into survival mode and at one point was just icing the puck to “ride out the storm,” if you will.
Buffalo pulled its goalie with around three minutes left in the period. Detroit took its strategy of “ice the puck until something good happens” and rode out a big win.
FINAL: 3-1, Red Wings
Huge two points for Detroit — they currently hold the second Wild Card position. Now, all eyes on the Washington Capitals tonight against the Ottawa Senators. Hate to break it to you all, but we’re Sens fans tonight.
