Red Wings' flat performance was bound to happen at some point

It was bound to happen. The Detroit Red Wings, despite the strong start to the season, were going to lose a winnable game. The Red Wings faced the Buffalo Sabres and rookie netminder Colten Ellis at the KeyBank Arena on Wednesday night.

The result was a 4-2 loss, giving Ellis one heck of a first NHL start. Now, there’s no need to panic. Such things happen all the time in sports. Rookie pitchers shut down the most fearsome hitters. First-year quarterbacks lead their clubs to unlikely wins.

You get the picture.

But the overall flat performance was something destined to occur. The Red Wings have played fantastic games against top teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Edmonton Oilers.

So, why lose to the Sabres? That’s a complex answer. The easy way out is that the Wings got stymied by a rookie goalie on a mission to make the best of his first shot at the NHL.

A deeper, more complex answer is that the Red Wings were outplayed. The Sabres came into the game with a chip on their shoulder and made the most of their opportunities. The Red Wings, meanwhile, pushed late in the game, but were the victim of their own mistakes.

For example, Tyson Kozak’s goal showed how Axel Sandin-Pellikka’s defensive faux pas, as minor as it was, doesn’t always fly under the radar with NHL-caliber players. Here’s a look:

Sandin-Pellikka played the puck well, but didn’t tie up Kozak’s stick. The puck came to Kozak and ended in the back of the net.

Those were the sorts of mistakes that the Sabres pounced on, leading to their victory.

Gibson fails to pick up Red Wings against Sabres

Perhaps it might be an overreaction on my part, but John Gibson’s performance seemed to lack the sort of presence that a rising club like the Red Wings needs.

Gibson made 27 saves, but it wasn't the saves that he made that were the difference. It was the saves that he didn’t make that decided the game.

The Sabres, it seems, figured out that shooting from long range with traffic in front of the net was the key to beating him.

Here’s a good example:

Jack Quinn’s shot from the top of the slot was an absolute rocket that Gibson had no chance on. Now, the question begs: Did the Red Wings do a good job of clearing the front of the net? You could argue that the Red Wings did not clear the net, allowing for traffic to screen Gibson.

But then again, positionally sound goalies can make saves just by putting themselves where the puck will likely hit them.

That was not the case with Gibson. The Sabres scored multiple goals in a similar fashion. So, it looks like the Red Wings must be stronger in front of their own net. Otherwise, the Sabres may have just given the rest of the NHL the cheat codes to beat Detroit.