The Detroit Red Wings found a way to dig deep and end the streak

On a day when the Detroit Red Wings absolutely needed a victory, with the hopes of qualifying for the postseason still in reach but quickly slipping away, they delivered. It's been a wretched stretch of hockey over the past two weeks. Seven is the number of consecutive losses and not just losses blowouts. During that stretch, the Red Wings appeared disengaged and lacked effort. Still, without their captain and best player, Detroit found a way to turn the tide.

The Red Wings allowed the first goal for the fifth straight game, and although the effort seemed to be there, the sentiment of 'here we go again' immediately arose. It was a power play marker from Tage Thompson, his 20th of the year. It's a goal James Reimer would undoubtedly like to have back. Live, it seemed like a horrible goal to allow, but after breaking down in slow motion, Reimer had a Sabre fly by his face right before, and the somewhat weak shot appeared to deflect off of J.T. Compher's stick before going through the legs of Reimer. It would be the lone goal of the first period.

The Red Wings came out flying Saturday afternoon with that sense of urgency we've all been waiting for. Head coach Derek Lalonde reassembled the third line of Andrew Copp, Michael Rasmussen, and Christian Fischer. That group was the first to break through in the second frame. The trio combined for a greasy goal scored by Fischer as he took the puck from below the goal line to the front of the net and swung it toward the goal as he was falling down. Somehow, the puck had eyes and found its way past Sabres netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Just before the goal, that third line had an excellent shift working the wall and enjoyed an effective cycle.

It's been rare lately, but the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Buffalo Sabres 4-1.

During the poor stretch of play without Larkin, Lalonde continued to hit purify on the blender, looking for the right line combinations. I can hardly blame him, but the way this Copp, Rasmussen, and Fischer line provided the Red Wings with energy on Saturday afternoon, that unit needs to stay intact moving forward. It makes you wonder why the trio wasn't put back together earlier.

The Red Wings received a go-ahead goal in the second period thanks to Showtime. After a hard-working shift, Patrick Kane deposited the loose puck past Luukkonen. The goal was set up by J.T. Compher, who dove to chip the puck from in front of the goal to an open Kane, who roofed it. These types of efforts the Red Wings need collectively with Larkin out. Larkin leaves a gaping hole in Detroit's lineup, and these hard-working shifts will make the difference until he returns. These types of shifts weren't coming over the previous seven games; well, Detroit played really hard in Vegas and at home against New York. So, five of the past seven games.

The Detroit Red Wings found a way to weather Buffalo's storm during the first half of the third period. It was all Sabres pressing for the tying goal, but the Red Wings did a great job keeping them primarily to the outside and played physically down low to disrupt the Sabres's cycle. Daniel Sprong eventually gave the Red Wings some breathing room with a snipe from the left wing wall. Sprong was a healthy scratch against the Coyotes and returned with his 17th goal and 40th point of the season. Lucas Raymond would hit the empty net for his 20th of the year to seal it for the Red Wings.

Moritz Seider, Raymond, David Perron, Ben Chiarot, and the entire third line were willing to play physically on Saturday. That's the style Detroit needs to play moving forward if it hopes to right the ship here. Reimer made 25 saves, a few of which were vital, with Detroit up 2-1. The Red Wings will turn to Alex Lyon on Saturday evening in Pittsburgh, yet another must-win situation for Detroit.