Did the Detroit Red Wings bounce back in Week 3?

Oct. 26, 2024
Game 8: Red Wings @ Sabres
3-5 Buffalo Win
SOG: 25-39 Buffalo

Starting Goaltenders: Alex Lyon v Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

The Detroit Red Wings come into this game looking to extend their three-game win streak while the Buffalo Sabres come in looking to extend their two-game win streak. J.T. Compher would return to the Red Wings lineup after missing the last game with illness.

The first period started with the Sabres flying and the Red Wings dying. The Red Wings ended up being stuck in their zone for about three full minutes until Marco Kasper received his first visit to the NHL time-out box, giving the Sabres their first power play of the game. A power play that Jason Zucker would score on giving the Sabres the 1-0 lead.

The Sabres would continue to keep the Red Wings trapped in their own zone, peppering Alex Lyon with shot after shot after shot (feel like I've seen this one before). With eight minutes Ben Chiarot would make, what I would call, the worst possible line change I have ever seen. Allowing for a Sabres 22-on-1 that would see Simon Edvinson perform the best yoga I have ever seen performed on ice skates to try and break it up.

Alas, it wasn't enough, as known Red Wing killer Tage Thompson would score to make it 2-0. But hold on, the Red Wings seemed to have realized that they are allowed to score goals and would do just that with 5:17 left in the period Alex DeBrincat (4) would score assisted by Moritz Seider (3) and Lucas Raymond (7) to make this period look better than it was for the Red Wings. The period would end with the Sabres up 2-1.

The second period would start about the same as the first. The Sabres came out ready to build on their lead and the Red Wings came out looking to do the opposite it would seem. The Red Wings would once again be stuck in their own zone for far longer than anybody would've liked. This would lead to another Tage Thompson goal when Erik Gustafsson and Justin Holl would somehow lose him in the slot making it a 3-1 game for the Sabres.

Thankfully, the Red Wings would step it up and just 31 seconds later, Michael Rasmussen (2) would score assisted by Moritz Seider (4) and Simon Edvinsson (3) to make it 3-2. This would give the Red Wings the jolt they needed to at least try and get some sustained offensive zone pressure, J.T. Compher would check into the two-minute chill room giving the Sabres another power play.

A goal would be scored during the power play, but never fear, the goal came from Lucas Raymond (1) scoring not only his first goal of the season but the first short-handed game of his career tying the game at 3-3. Unfortunatly, this version of the Red Wings won't allow us to have nice things as the Red Wings would surrender a goal to Bowen Byram with just over four minutes left in the period, giving the Sabres the 4-3 lead going into the third period.

The third period was where the Red Wings went to almost score a goal. Several times the Red Wings had picture-perfect chances to take the lead and every time it either hit the post or sailed high, wide, or both. The Red Wings would pull Alex Lyon with just over two minutes left in the game, and they would put pretty significant pressure on the Sabres during this time, when Patrick Kane would shoot at a wide-open net and it would ring off the post right into the hands of the Sabres who sent it the length of the ice for an empty net goal. The Sabres win 5-3.

This was a game that had "Sabres win" written all over it. The Sabres did much of what the Devils and Islanders did to the Red Wings and kept them trapped in their own zone. The difference was that the Sabres for most of the game got the goaltending to back up their offense.

While yes, Lalonde did start the line blender to generate offense in the third period, the first and third lines stayed the same for most of the game. Oddly enough, they were really the only consistent lines all game. Alex Lyon did everything he could to give the team the best possible chance to win this game. Unfortunately, the overall effort wasn't there. but most of the lineup. At least Raymond finally scored.