Rebounding from their two costly losses on home ice, the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Atlantic Division-leading Buffalo Sabres on the road on Friday evening.
Following two consecutive losses against divisional opponents on home ice that dropped them below the playoff cut line, the Detroit Red Wings badly needed to rebound to keep their postseason hopes alive.
On Friday night against yet another divisional opponent, they did just that.
First period goals from Alex DeBrincat, Lucas Raymond, and Marco Kasper paced the Red Wings en route to an eventual 5-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center.
While the Red Wings remain on the outside looking in at the playoffs, one point behind the New York Islanders, they are tied with the Ottawa Senators, who defeated them on Tuesday, in total points (86).
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The Red Wings struck first at the 4:02 mark of the first period thanks to the 36th tally of the season from DeBrincat in the opening seconds of their first power-play chance of the evening.
Detroit then doubled its lead thanks to a second power-play goal, this time from Lucas Raymond, who beat former Red Wings goaltender Alex Lyon with a quick wrist shot for his 23rd goal.
Marco Kasper then scored his eighth of the season, increasing the lead to 3-0.
However, the Sabres began to press in the second period, limiting Detroit to just three shots on goal while getting a goal from Tage Thompson, who has historically performed well against the Red Wings.
Despite their multiple chances, Detroit's John Gibson kept the Sabres at bay with several key stops.
Just one day after signing his two-year contract extension, former Sabres defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker scored his first goal of the season and first with the Red Wings at 15:46 of the third period.
While the Sabres got one back less than a minute later after team captain Rasmus Dahlin found the back of the net, Detroit sealed the victory thanks to an empty-net goal from future Hall of Famer and Buffalo native Patrick Kane.
Picking up the win was Gibson, who made 28 saves; Lyon countered with 15 saves.
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