The Sabres knew they had a tough task at hand coming into this one. Still, the Red Wings scored early and often en route to a dominating 5-0 win over Buffalo.
The victory set a new record for Detroit – 15 consecutive victories at home. The Red Wings improved to 18-2-1 on home ice.
Jimmy Howard stopped all 27 shots on the night. The league’s winningest goaltender improved to 27-10-1 on the season.
Ryan Miller allowed five goals on 14 shots and was pulled early in the second period.
“It’s embarrassing,” Miller said. “I got family and friends. Everybody came to watch Drew and I play. At least they got to watch Drew perform.”
Jhonas Enroth came in and was perfect on the night, stopping all 12 shots he faced.
Although Enroth performed well, it didn’t matter. The damage was already done, and the Sabres couldn’t break Howard’s shutout.
A trio of first period goals was more than enough for Detroit. The Red Wings scored two goals in the final two minutes of the opening period, breaking the game open.
“It was a shot in the gut,” said Lindy Ruff, regarding the two late goals.
Henrik Zetterberg hadn’t scored in his last 13 games prior to this one, but got his team on the board after a Jordan Leopold turnover.
The 5-0 score is a bit deceiving as the Sabres certainly had their chances, but couldn’t convert.
Jordan Leopold and Mike Weber were a team worst -4 on the night.
Pavel Datsyuk had three assists on the night and Todd Bertuzzi collected a goal and a pair of assists.
Buffalo lost the season series against Detroit by scores of 4-1 and 5-0.
The Sabres have now dropped nine straight games away from home and still have five more before the road trip comes to an end.
The last time the Sabres won in Detroit was back during the October storm, and plenty of Sabres fans were unable to watch that one.
The Sabres will head to Chicago for Wednesday’s game against the Blackhawks. That game is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.