The Detroit Red Wings made the Sabres look like they had already overeaten at Thanksgiving dinner, eking out a 2-1 shootout win at KeyBank Center on the eve of the American holiday.
With the shootout even after goals from Gustav Nyquist and Sam Reinhart, Thomas Vanek scored the game winner. He skated straight in on Robin Lehner, made an around-the-world move with his stick over the puck, and then flicked the puck into the top right corner. Cal O’Reilly failed to score on the Sabres’ final attempt, sealing the Detroit victory.
It was Vanek’s first game back from injury after starting with four goals and four assists in Detroit’s first eight games.
The Sabres’ scoring drought continued, much to the dismay of the vocal hometown crowd. They had scored just 10 goals in their 9 home games and just 36 goals in 19 games overall. The Sabres had hoped having Ryan O’Reilly back in the line-up would change their scoring woes. It did not.
A disappointed Coach Bylsma commented, “We were right there. Didn’t bury the opportunity. Left a point on the table.” The Sabres now have five losses after regulation.
“You never want to give up those points, a big goal of ours is to get back to the .500 mark, tonight we could’ve done that.” – Brian Gionta
The Wings took the 1-0 lead at 16:00 of the second period. A broken play at the Sabres’ blue line left former-Sabre sniper Thomas Vanek in the slot to Lehner’s right. He sent a no-look, spinaround pass to Gustav Nyquist who beat Lehner’s push to the left side of the net.
Captain Brian Gionta evened the score at the start of the third period. Evander Kane drove in deep on Howard’s left and one-handed the puck towards the crease. The puck went in off Gionta who was spinning with his back to the goal. Detroit’s Coach Jeff Blashill appealed for goaltender interference but video review reinforced the call on the ice. Gionta’s fourth goal of the season, at 1:42 mark of the third, reactivated the crowd who hoped to see the Sabres extend their two-game winning streak.
Detroit played the first period as though the puck had a magnetic charge and their sticks had the same charge; they couldn’t take a pass nor keep from having it jump off their sticks. They had more giveaways than politicians in an election year. The Sabres couldn’t capitalize despite outshooting and outchancing the Wings. Eight of the Sabres’ 12 shot attempts came as direct results of Detroit’s 8 giveaways.
The second period featured both teams killing consecutive minors before devolving into a chippy, scrambly affair for the remainder of the period. Play was marked by giveaways, errant passes and players standing still rather than skating. Sam Reinhart had the best power play chance for the Sabres, ringing a wrister off the far-side post following a scrum in front of Detroit netminder, Jimmy Howard. The double-kill for the Wings seemed to add a jump to their flat play. And while they didn’t score on their two consecutive power plays, momentum was then in their favor for the remainder of the period.
“We can over-analyze this, we were better today, we hit four posts. Simple. We had good opportunities.” –Robin Lehner
With the victory, the Wings pulled even with the Blue and Gold in the overall standings. The Sabres ended their four game homestand at 2-1-1. They will resume play after the holiday, on Friday, visiting the Washington Capitals at 5pm EST.