On Tuesday, the Detroit Red Wings got their rear ends kicked in. The Buffalo Sabres went out and absolutely curb-stomped Detroit from the get-go. From puck drop, the Red Wings were playing catch-up with the Sabres, who had all of the momentum and luck on their side.
The Detroit Red Wings gave up a couple of goals early, and while one was called back, the team struggled. Detroit tallied one, and then, 30 seconds later, the Red Wings allowed another goal. It was a really tough scene for Detroit to see them put up such a disastrous effort in the opening frame.
The Red Wings swapped out goaltenders, opting to roll with James Reimer between the pipes the rest of the way. It was a tough start to the game, and the switch-up may provide a better second half. However, this was not the case -- it was a mess from the get-go and never got better.
Detroit had pretty much fallen apart and seen things go wrong. Buffalo had all the momentum in this game, putting pressure on Detroit, and they just crumbled. Buffalo was also able to just show off a ton of speed offensively. They were going out there shift after shift, just blowing by Detroit to create scoring chances.
Buffalo buried the Detroit Red Wings in a 7-3 loss on Tuesday night.
Buffalo rode the highs of Bowen Byram's two goals and some quality play from their line with Zach Benson on it. It was just tough to watch. It felt like goal after goal just kept coming for Buffalo, and the offense was able to get it done, with Detroit's defense just crumbling.
It was tough to see Alex Lyon struggle between the pipes. Lyon was struggling to do much of anything. Lately, the defense has left him hung out to dry, but there were a couple of goals that were purely on him. So, it really does feel like Lyon might be getting to a point where the grind is starting to be too much.
The Red Wings got beat once again. It was tough to watch, especially 24 hours after I wrote a piece on the site saying that the playoffs were not out of touch. I mentioned that the Red Wings could get back on track and stay in hold of a playoff spot.
But, with the way the Red Wings are playing, it is really tough to imagine that they will stay in the race. However, the Red Wings are technically still clinging to life on the playoff race, but they need to kick it into gear. I'm trying to be optimistic, but it's hard to see it with this skid continuing.
If Detroit does not come out and snap this horrid skid, the team will be in trouble. The team has to want this loss back, but they'd also like to replay this road trip from scratch.