The five-game winning streak for the Detroit Red Wings was halted by the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday evening.
All good things must come to a close, and for the Detroit Red Wings, it was their five-game winning streak that is no more following their 4-2 setback against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Centre on Wednesday evening.
With the loss, the Red Wings dropped to 5-2 through the first seven games of their centennial campaign, while the Sabres improved to 3-4.
Buffalo largely outplayed Detroit from the get-go, enjoying a 11-5 shots advantage in what was a scoreless first period and finished with 31 total shots compared to Detroit's 29, 13 of which were in the final period.
The Red Wings also didn't make life difficult enough on Sabres rookie goaltender Colten Ellis, who was making his first career start in the NHL and didn't have to make a save until the first period was over half over, until late in the game.
J.T. Compher broke the scoreless tie early in the second period with his first goal of the season, only to have the Sabres counter with goals from Jason Zucker and Tyson Kozak.
While Red Wings rookie Emmitt Finnie remained hot by scoring his third goal in the last two games to knot the score at 2-2 late in the middle frame, the Sabres pushed ahead in the third period after a penalty to Michael Rasmussen proved costly.
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A power-play goal from Jack Quinn proved to be the game-winner for the Sabres, who would get another tally from Josh Doan just under four minutes later.
John Gibson stopped 27 of the 31 shots fired his way, while Ellis picked up the win by making 27 saves with his family in attendance.
Among the key saves Ellis made was his denial of Dylan Larkin on a clean breakaway attempt shortly after Compher's goal. Had Larkin scored, Detroit's lead would have increased to 2-0 and may very well have resulted in a different final outcome.
He also robbed Alex DeBrincat, who is still looking for his first goal of the season, late in regulation.
The good news for the Red Wings is that as of now, they remain in a first-place tie with the Montreal Canadiens in the Atlantic Division standings.
The bad news is that it was a missed opportunity for more valuable points against a team with the NHL's longest playoff drought and who, by all indications, will likely struggle to play beyond the 82nd game of the regular season once again.
Detroit will conclude their two-game road swing in less than 24 hours with a tilt against the New York Islanders before returning home to Little Caesars Arena for a Saturday evening matchup against the St. Louis Blues.
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