Sabres' late surge falls short in loss to Red Wings

Jeff Skinner tallied a goal and an assist in the third period to spark a late push, but the Buffalo Sabres were unable to complete the comeback in a 5-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings inside KeyBank Center on Tuesday.

The Sabres fell behind early as Dylan Larkin and Robby Fabbri scored to give the Red Wings a 2-0 lead 8:25 into the first. Lucas Raymond picked up a loose puck off the boards and fed Larkin in the high slot for a one-timer. Fabbri’s goal came after Detroit strung together a series of passes to find him open in front of the blue paint.

"Lately we've been on our heels after that first goal against," Skinner said. "And yeah, I mean, if you're on your heels, it's tough to defend. It's tough to get back on offense and then teams take advantage and they've been capitalizing on opportunities early in games."

The Red Wings extended the lead in the second with a pair of goals from Moritz Seider and Michael Rasmussen before defenseman Rasmus Dahlin buried a one-timer on the power play to put the Sabres on the board with 1:03 left in the period.

From there, the Sabres outshot the Red Wings 15-7 and rallied behind goals from Casey Mittelstadt and Skinner in the third. 

Skinner passed across the crease to find Mittelstadt at the back door to make it 4-2. Less than three minutes later, JJ Peterka drew a high-sticking penalty that led to Skinner's goal. Larkin turned the puck over in the Detroit zone, allowing Skinner to go in alone and beat Alex Lyon on the backhand to cut the deficit to one.

"I think you look at that third period, I think we obviously created more opportunities, but we worked for them," Skinner said. "We drew a little more penalties. We had them on their heels. And that's not just one play or just a shift. I think it's shift after shift, us kind of responding and having a little urgency. If we keep doing that over and over, then things will turn around for us." 

The Sabres generated numerous chances in the final minutes of play, including a chance that saw Skinner hit the side of the net after attempting to sneak the puck behind Lyon with the extra attacker on the ice and a point-blank opportunity for Dylan Cozens that was blocked in front of the net. 

Larkin put the puck in the empty net to seal the Red Wings' victory. 

Sabres coach Don Granato thought that the team's mentality changed in the third period and was what made the difference in the opportunities. 

"The puck pressure, systematically, way better at pressuring pucks," Granato said about the group's play in the third. "Way more aggressive and assertive handing off the pressure, supporting the next guy to pressure, and more confidence with the puck."

Buffalo fell to 10-14-2 on the season and dropped its fourth game in a row, but Granato expressed his confidence in his team's ability to battle back and come back stronger. 

"I have confidence in our group, I have confidence that we can resolve this and I have confidence in saying that this is what teams deal with, and you’ve got to learn to deal with it better to get out of it faster and become more experienced because of it," he said. "I know we’re going to get to the other side of this and as painful as it is, I think we’re going to be better because of it.”

Here's more from Tuesday's loss.

1. Thompson returned to the lineup after missing the previous nine games due to an upper-body injury he sustained while blocking a shot during the Sabres’ 5-2 loss to Boston on Nov. 14. He stepped in on the wing for Alex Tuch, who is expected to miss seven to 10 days after exiting Sunday’s game against Nashville with an injury of his own.

Tuch was placed on injured reserve along with forward Jordan Greenway prior to puck drop.

2. Goaltender Eric Comrie stopped 22 of 26 shots in his seventh start of the season.

Devon Levi was recalled from the Rochester Americans to back up Comrie as Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen missed the game due to an illness.

3. Sabres captain Kyle Okposo emphasized the recent string of slow starts is something the team needs to work together to solve to get the group back to its game and meet the expectations they have of themselves.

“We’re having trouble starting games on time and it bit us again,” he said. “I just think we got down, we’re trying to find any sign of life. We get one there in the second and then you battle back and then you’re finally in a game. And we just shot ourselves in the foot too much, too early, and weren’t able to claw our way back.

“… Nobody’s going to throw us a lifeline here. We’re going to have to do it ourselves. It’s going to come from this room and the people that are in it.”

4. Forward Isak Rosen led the Sabres with five shots on goal while skating 7:54 in his fifth appearance of the season.

Up Next

The Sabres travel to Boston to take on the Bruins at TD Garden on Thursday. The pregame show on MSG/MSG+ begins at 6:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 7. Radio coverage can be found on WGR 550.