After an abysmal first period and a not-much-better rest of the game, the Detroit Red Wings suffered a 7-3 road loss to the Buffalo Sabres that extends their losing streak to six games.
After an abysmal first period and a not-much-better rest of the game, the Detroit Red Wings suffered a 7-3 road loss to the Buffalo Sabres that extends their losing streak to six games.
The Detroit Red Wings’ hopes of snapping their recent losing streak lasted less than a period against Buffalo. You could also argue they lasted less than a minute.
That’s when Sabres forward Alex Tuch beat Red Wings defenseman Ben Chiarot on a turnover race and scored on goaltender Alex Lyon for the 1-0 lead. A little over 15 minutes later, forward Jeff Skinner had made it 4-1 off a one-timer to end Lyon’s night. But the night wasn’t over for his teammates. A long one was just beginning.
The Red Wings (33-26-6) needed a win badly against Buffalo (31-30-5) to end its recent losing streak. But instead, they head home with their sixth straight loss by way of a 7-3 Sabres victory. Buffalo came firing out of the gate with speed and pace, and it caught Detroit off guard. And after losing so many races in Tuesday night's loss, Detroit also fell further behind in a playoff race it thoroughly controlled just over a week ago.
Such an outing was apparent as early as Tuch’s goal, but scoring was only one facet of Buffalo’s domination against the Red Wings. Its skaters had more jump and pace than Detroit’s in the first period, and they used that to create their ample scoring chances. After Tuch’s goal, they quickly added another on a goal that was called back for offsides. Halfway through the period, though, newly acquired defenseman Bowen Byram made it 2-0, anyway.
This goal sparked the first of two stretches where goals came with regularity. A little over two minutes later, Chiarot gave Detroit a response goal off a quick entry by Jonatan Berggren and Lucas Raymond, the latter of whom fed him the puck in stride. It amounted to a momentary response, though, and not a sign of substantial progress. Sabres rookie Zach Benson scored to make it 3-1 less than a minute later, then Skinner scored the period’s final goal two minutes after that. Once he did, Detroit coach Derek Lalonde gave Lyon the hook after he allowed four goals on 13 shots.
Hoping to get a different look with backup goalie James Reimer in the net after Skinner’s goal, the Red Wings instead kept making the same mistakes. Their pace remained flat against the Sabres’ quick play development, and they didn’t do much to defend in front of Reimer. Defenseman Connor Clifton scored just around five minutes in, then Byram added his second goal of the game at 9:05 in the second period. Off a power play 24 seconds later, Detroit cut the lead ever so slightly with a goal from Raymond, but the effort didn’t amount to much in a game that was already 6-2.
After J.J. Peterka added one more before the second period ended, the Red Wings played more effective defense in the third period with a shutout effort over the last 20 minutes of play. They actually won the period with a Jake Walman goal to make it 7-3, but the earlier 40 minutes were much more indicative of Tuesday's overall effort.
Even if the Sabres didn’t relent, the first period alone was enough for Detroit to lose the game. It came out far too flat and far too slow to beat Buffalo, let alone to break its now six-game losing streak. It didn’t matter how much the Red Wings marginally improved throughout the game — there was no coming back from such a hole without a miracle. It's the fourth loss during the streak in which they've been outscored in the first period, and the second in which they've allowed three or more. All told, Detroit is getting outscored 13-4 in the first period during this six-game slump.
This game also marked the second time the Red Wings have given up seven goals in a game (tied for the most by the Sabres’ 24th ranked offense this season). The other was a 7-2 loss at Colorado to start the road trip that this Buffalo game wrapped up. Both games are fitting bookends to a road trip that should make Detroit thankful for home sweet home.
If they want to rekindle their season, leaving behind such poor starts is a must, and it must come quick. They are currently tied with the New York Islanders at 72 points, but the Isles have control of the final Eastern Conference wild card because Detroit has played one extra game. The Red Wings can hardly afford to lose more these final 17 games, let alone to let their losing streak fester.
If they come out with a better start from here on out, they'll have a hard time changing their results.
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