RECAP: Red Wings flip the script, end losing skid in 4-1 hard-fought battle against Buffalo Saturday

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings needed to win Saturday’s game and they didn’t let up until the job was finished. The Red Wings played aggressively for a full 60 minutes, handed the Buffalo Sabres a 4-1 loss at Little Caesars Arena and reminded Hockeytown what the 2023-24 team is capable of.

Goalie James Reimer made 25 saves to earn the win for the Red Wings, who improved to 37-27-6 (74 points) and jumped ahead of the New York Islanders in the Eastern Conference Wild Card race.

“Of course, we needed a win but the way we did it was important,” head coach Derek Lalonde said.

Buffalo used its first power play to take the lead at 11:22 in the first period. Sabres forward Tage Thompson fired in a shot that was assisted by defenseman Rasmus Dahlin and forward Alex Tuch.

Detroit started heating up in the second period, providing fans a glimpse of the way the Red Wings were playing to start the calendar year.

At 5:35 of the middle frame, forward Christian Fischer brought fans to their feet as he spun around from the back right of the net, dove to his knees and tossed in the puck to even the score at 1-1.

“The guys love Christian,” Lalonde said. “He plays the right way. Obviously they had the Thompson assignment tonight and their job was not to get scored on. For them to get a goal the way they did, second effort, zone time, very lifting and we had a really good second period from that moment on.”

Forward Andrew Copp and defenseman Moritz Seider claimed the assists on Fischer’s goal, which marked his third of the season and his first since Dec. 2 at Montreal.

Buffalo native and forward Patrick Kane gave Detroit its first lead of the game as he launched the puck past Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to log his 14th goal of the season and push the Red Wings in front, 2-1.

With just under six minutes left in regulation, forward Robby Fabbri found forward Daniel Sprong, who earned Detroit’s third goal of the afternoon. Fabbri’s helper marked his 100th NHL assist.

With just over one minute left in the game, forward Lucas Raymond earned an empty-net goal, sealing Saturday’s win for Detroit and putting the Red Wings back on track.

“As bad at that all went, we dictate what’s going to happen,” Fischer said about Detroit rebounding from its seven-game losing streak. “If we go on a good run here and put together a couple wins, we know how that’s going to work and how difficult these next three, four weeks are. We control our own destiny. Everyone can look at the negative side but we’re in a playoff hunt with 16, 17 games to go. That’s why we play hockey.”

NEXT UP: Detroit will travel to Pittsburgh to face the Penguinsat PPG Paints Arena in the second half of a back-to-back set on Sunday. Puck drop is set for 6 p.m.