The Buffalo Sabres were in Detroit on Saturday night, as they visited the Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena.
Despite opening the scoring, the Sabres coughed up a pair of goals to Detroit and had to play comeback in the waning minutes just to force overtime. In the end, it was up-and-coming rookie forward Lucas Raymond dropping the curtain on the Sabres seconds into a 3-2 overtime win for the Red Wings.
After a scoreless first period, the Sabres broke through five minutes into the second. The blue and gold broke into the Red Wings zone with Dylan Cozems finishing off a very pretty passing play set up by Brett Murray and Kyle Okposo.
It was Cozens' fifth goal of the season, while for Murray, his primary assist on the play was the first point of his NHL career.
The Sabres' lead lasted less than five minutes, though. In fact, in a span of 1:20, Buffalo went from leading, to being tied, to trailing.
Detroit started driving hard to the Sabres' net and were rewarded twice in quick succession. Forwards Carter Rowney and Pius Suter did the damage, respectively.
It looked like Suter's goal was going to hold up as the game-winner for Detroit. Jeff Skinner and the Sabres had other ideas, for the time being.
With 1:37 left in regulation, Skinner was able to get a piece of a Cody Eakin shot to the Detroit net and it fluttered over goalie Alex Nedeljkovic to tie the game at 2-2. The goal was Skinner's sixth goal of the year.
The teams headed to overtime, but the extra frame didn't last long at all. Just 26 seconds into overtime, Raymond was able to be Sabres goalie Dustin Tokarski through the five-hole to give Detroit the victory.
----------
GAME RECAP:
Goal Summary:
First Period:
BUF: NONE
DET: NONE
Second Period:
BUF: 5:05 - Dylan Cozens (5) (Brett Murray, Kyle Okposo)
DET: 9:56 - Carter Rowney (2) (Gustav Lindstrom, Sam Gagner); 11:15 - Pius Suter (5) (Givani Smith, Moritz Seider)
Third Period:
BUF: 18:23 - Jeff Skinner (6) (Cody Eakin, Rasmus Dahlin)
DET: NONE
Overtime:
BUF: NONE
DET: 0:26 - Lucas Raymond (9) (Dylan Larkin, Filip Hronek)
----------
Penalty Summary:
First Period:
BUF: 17:49 - Robert Hagg (Slashing - 2 min.); 18:57 - Rasmus Dahlin (Goalie Interference - 2 min.)
DET: 17:49 - Michael Rasmussen (Interference - 2 min.)
Second Period:
BUF: 17:28 - Kyle Okposo (Boarding - 2 min.)
DET: NONE
Third Period:
BUF: 1:07 - Colin Miller (Hooking - 2 min.)
DET: NONE
Overtime:
BUF: NONE
DET: NONE
----------
----------
Losi and Gangi Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Lucas Raymond - DET
2.) Dustin Tokarski - BUF
3.) Pius Suter - DET
----------
What's next:
The blue and gold come back home to host the Seattle Kraken on Monday night at KeyBank Center. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. EST with pregame coverage starting at 6 p.m. EST with Mike Schopp and the Bulldog on the radio home of the Sabres - WGR Sports Radio 550.
***Photo: Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres)
