Larkin, Red Wings rally for OT win against Sabres

BUFFALO --Dylan Larkin scored twice, including at 2:07 of overtime, and the Detroit Red Wings rallied to defeat the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 at KeyBank Center on Monday.

Larkin took a pass from Nick Leddy in the slot and scored in the top right corner to complete the comeback for Detroit, which trailed 2-0 in the third period.
Vladislav Namestnikov scored, and Alex Nedeljkovic made 26 saves for the Red Wings (18-17-5), who completed a home-and-home sweep following a 4-0 win in Detroit on Saturday.
"I thought that was the best third period we've played in a long time," Larkin said. "We rolled lines and on offensive zone face-offs, we got our guys out there and we won draws and were able to swarm them. I liked the attitude on the goal [to tie the game, 2-2]; we pushed for the third one. We've got to keep doing that, we've got to keep playing that way."

Jeff Skinner had a goal and an assist for the Sabres (11-20-7). Aaron Dell made 32 saves.
"Unfortunately, it's growing pains what happened there," Buffalo coach Don Granato said. "(Alex) Tuch had a breakaway, Victor (Olofsson) had a breakaway, so it wasn't without chances, but we absolutely tightened up after giving up the first goal against, and it was a tough situation.
"… The last thing we should be doing is complicating things on the power play at that point. It should be simple and direct. The pain of it is something teams grow out of. … We played a pretty good game. Just didn't finish. Just didn't have a finish. It was a much, much better effort."
Henri Jokiharju gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 9:56 of the first period with a shot from the top of the left circle through traffic.
Tuch appeared to increase the lead at 8:15 of the second period, but Detroit coach Jeff Blashill challenged the play for offside, and the call on the ice was overturned.
Skinner picked up a loose puck at the crease and spun around to the bottom of the left circle to make it 2-0 at 9:21 of the third period. Blashill used another challenge for goaltender interference, but this time the call on the ice was upheld, resulting in a minor penalty for delay of game.
On the ensuing power play, Namestnikov cut it to 2-1 at 10:21 of the third with a shorthanded goal on a 2-on-1 with Moritz Seider.
"Obviously, they scored the second goal," Blashill said. "Because we didn't have a lot of push, it was a close call on our end, I decided to challenge it. And great for 'Vladdy' for the shorthanded goal. Because then I thought after that, it really ignited us."
Larkin tied it 2-2 at 13:28 on a one-timer from the slot.
"There wasn't a lot being created either way," Blashill said. "I was a little bit frustrated with the lack of creation on our end. I thought we had the opportunity to create more and we didn't. … But we stayed with it.

Buffalo is 1-5-3 in its past nine games.
"You can look at the positives all you want, but at the end of the day, we didn't get the job done," Skinner said. "I think moving forward, we have to take those with us and the fact we were able to get up in the game establish that lead is something we should focus on just as much as the fact we need to close those games out. Obviously not the result. We've got to keep pushing here."
NOTES:Larkin's seven overtime goals are fifth in Red Wings history behind Sergei Fedorov (12), Brendan Shanahan (nine), Steve Yzerman (nine) and Pavel Datsyuk (eight). … Detroit also rallied for an overtime win after trailing by two goals in the third period in a 4-3 victory against the Sabres on Nov. 6. … Red Wings goalie Thomas Greiss was placed in NHL COVID-19 protocol prior to the game. … The Sabres placed forward Zemgus Girgensons (lower body), defenseman Colin Miller (undisclosed) and goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (lower body) on injured reserve.