Sabres extend streak to nine with shootout win against Red Wings

DETROIT -- The Buffalo Sabres extended their winning streak to nine games when Sam Reinhart scored in the seventh round of the shootout for a 3-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday.

It is the longest winning streak for the Sabres since they won the first 10 games of the 2006-07 season.
"I have to give our guys credit because we've played six games in nine days, and they've kept grinding and found ways to win hockey games," coach Phil Housley said. "It isn't always pretty, and tonight was a little sloppy, but we find ways."
WATCH: [All Sabres vs. Red Wings highlights]
Detroit's Andreas Athanasiou and Buffalo's Tage Thompson each scored in the fifth round, but Reinhart was the only other player who scored in the shootout. The Sabres are the third team to defeat the Red Wings in their past 20 shootouts.
Jeff Skinner and Thompson scored for the Sabres (16-6-2), who were coming off a 3-2 overtime win against the Montreal Canadiens on Friday. Linus Ullmark made 35 saves.

"Linus gets a lot of credit for this one," Housley said. "He made some great saves, including a couple breakaways."
Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha scored for the Red Wings (10-10-3), who have lost two in a row, including 3-1 at the Washington Capitals on Friday, after winning nine of their previous 11 games.
"We've had plenty of opportunities in each of these games, but we aren't finishing them," coach Jeff Blashill said. "We've got to find a way to put pucks into the net."
Jimmy Howard made 33 saves for Detroit.
"I thought we deserved more than one point tonight, but that's how this game works," Larkin said. "This was a great hockey game between two young, fast teams."

Skinner gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 3:37 of the first period when he put the rebound of a Jack Eichel shot past Howard on the power play for his 18th goal of the season and 17th in 17 games.
The Red Wings nearly tied the game at 5:58 when Justin Abdelkader's dump-in from center ice took a bad bounce past Ullmark, but he was able to kick out his leg to stop it.
"There was probably a bad patch of ice," Ullmark said. "I was just lucky. There was no skill involved in that save -- it was pure luck."
Larkin tied the game 1-1 53 seconds into the second period, beating Ullmark short side from the left hash marks.

"That was a great shot, but a bad choice by me," Ullmark said. "I should have that one every night of the week."
The Red Wings had a third-period power play after Reinhart was called for interference at 5:15, but Thomas Vanek took a slashing penalty 46 seconds later.
Ullmark stopped Larkin on a breakaway at 6:38 at 4-on-4, and Thompson put Buffalo ahead 2-1 at 7:40 when he one-timed Rasmus Dahlin's pass with the Sabres on the power play.
"That was a perfect pass," Thompson said. "I had just gotten high-sticked a few seconds earlier, so I was mad and put all of my weight into that shot. That was everything I have."
Mantha tied it 2-2 at 13:52, tapping in the puck after Tyler Bertuzzi's shot hit the post.

Eichel drew a holding penalty against Larkin 55 seconds into overtime, but Howard made two saves during Buffalo's 4-on-3 power play.
"That was a huge kill, because 3-on-4 is tough to stop," Howard said. "The guys kept lanes open so I could see everything, and they blocked some big shots."
Larkin matched his NHL career high of 10 shots on goal, and Eichel had seven.
"We've played together a lot and we're really close, so it is always fun to play against [Eichel]," Larkin said. "We were matched against each other tonight, and he's tough to handle, but we both made some plays."

They said it

"I think just during this streak, you can look at it and see how many different heroes we've had or guys stepping up in key situations. I mean, [Tage Thompson] went out for a shootout and he puts an incredible move on and you know keeps the game going. You've got Linus [Ullmark] stepping in and playing out of his mind, making some huge saves. Bailing me out and bailing us out a few times."-- Sabres captain Jack Eichel
"By the time you get to a shootout, the ice is going to be pretty chewed up, so you keep that in mind. Basically, you just try to outwait everyone coming at you, but they made a couple nice plays." -- Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard, who won seven of his previous nine shootouts

Need to know

Skinner took the NHL lead in goals when he scored his 18th, but Patrik Laine (19) moved past him with his five-goal game for the Winnipeg Jets. … Larkin and Henrik Zetterberg are the only Red Wings with at least 10 shots on goal in a game in the past six seasons (twice each).

What's next

Sabres: Host the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; SNE, SNO, SNP, MSG-B, NBCSCA, NHL.TV)
Red Wings:Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-D, FS-O, NHL.TV)