Larkin nets 15th in Wings' win over Sabres
© Bill Wippert
By
Joe Yerdon / NHL.com Correspondent
Detroit (24-15-8) ended a two-game losing streak. Buffalo (19-25-4) has lost two straight games.
Larkin and forward Luke Glendening each had a goal and an assist.
Larkin's 15th goal of the season came with 7:59 left in the third period when he received a pass from Glendening and took a wrist shot from the side of the net that bounced off the inside of Sabres goalie Robin Lehner's right leg and into the net.
"Goalie wasn't ready for it and I knew he wasn't going to be ready," Larkin said. "I thought I had an open net, but he did a good job coming back so it went through his legs and you see those go in a lot these days."
Sabres coach Dan Bylsma challenged the goal saying Glendening was offside, but after the review, it was determined that the play was onside.
"Awesome hustle to get back onside," Larkin said. "I didn't even know [Glendening] was close to being offside but the hustle was great. Awesome that he stopped on the puck and knew where I was."
Larkin's goal came 42 seconds after the Sabres killed a high-sticking double-minor penalty by forward Marcus Foligno, who caught Larkin in the face with his stick. Larkin's nose was bloodied on the play.
"It kind of woke me up a little bit," Larkin said. "It ticked me off a little bit, so I was playing with some edge."
The Sabres have killed 19 straight penalties in the past six games and have killed a double-minor in three straight, but in each of the past two games, they've allowed a goal within a minute of killing the four-minute penalty.
"We've been getting kills at crucial times of the games, but it's the five or 10 seconds after the kill where we haven't had success," Sabres defenseman Mike Weber said.
"He's come through in big moments for us, so I don't think it's surprising," Red Wings forward Riley Sheahan said. "He's going to those hard areas and he's getting rewarded for it and I think he's getting more respect out there so guys kind of have to be honest with him."
Henrik Zetterberg made it 2-0 when he scored his ninth goal of the season with 2:51 left in the third period after a pass from Larkin in front of the net. Zetterberg was alone in front of the net and made a move and extended his arms to tuck the puck behind Lehner.
Zetterberg passed Thomas Steen for eighth in points among Sweden-born players in NHL history.
"I saw him sneak right back there," Larkin said. "Everybody in the rink except those five guys knew he was wide open."
Glendening added an empty-net goal with 49 seconds left, his third of the season.
Goalie Petr Mrazek made 19 saves, his third shutout of the season and the eighth of his career.
"I thought Petr was real good," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "The one thing with the lack of scoring is we really can't afford any mistakes. A game like that where I thought we were carrying large parts of the play, if a goalie makes a mistake all of the sudden the momentum changes. He didn't allow that and when we needed a big save, especially in the second, we gave up a couple opportunities, one on a two-on-one, one on a shot from the point, I thought he made big saves."
The Red Wings scored more than one goal in a game for the first time since Jan. 14. Detroit is 14-1-1 in the past 16 games against the Sabres dating back to March 13, 2010.
"This is a hard league to score in, you just have to stay patient and stay with it," Blashill said. "Honestly it's been a lot this season, not just the last couple games when we've generated stuff and haven't scored lots. I think part of that's the league, part of it's we don't cheat offensively, so when you don't cheat, it's harder to score, when you play good defense."
Lehner made 42 saves in his fourth start of the season and his third since returning from a high-ankle sprain that put him out of action for over three months. He made 33 saves in the Sabres 2-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday.
"I try to keep building and it sucks losing," Lehner said. "I don't like losing and it's a fine line in this league. You can stay in games but to win them you've got to play a certain way, you've got to buy in and we've got to play as a team. We've got to start doing it at home because we're a little better on the road right now."
The Sabres are 9-15-2 at home this season and were shutout for the fourth time this season.
"We pretty much handed them the puck tonight with our execution and gave them opportunities to play in the offensive zone with how we executed," Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said. "That is all on us. It's not anything due to travel or anyone who may be in our out of the lineup. That was almost throughout the game, especially the second period."
The Sabres played without forward Sam Reinhart and defenseman Josh Gorges, who each missed the game with separate upper-body injuries. Defenseman Jake McCabe replaced Gorges and the Sabres recalled forward Cal O'Reilly from Rochester of the American Hockey League on Friday to replace Reinhart.
Red Wings forward Tomas Tatar returned to the lineup after he missed the game Wednesday against the St. Louis Blues with an illness. Brad Richards missed the game to attend the funeral for his grandfather.
The 19-year-old Larkin, a 2016 All-Star, is one goal behind Chicago Blackhawks forward Artemi Panarin for the rookie goal-scoring lead.
