Detroit Red Wings: ‘We have to learn’ to close out opponents
Detroit Red Wings Todd McLellan, Patrick Kane & Lucas Raymond, Nov. 15, 2025 in Detroit.
Copious production from the usual sources helped the Detroit Red Wings build a cushy lead against one of the worst teams in the NHL. Then things unravelled.
Alex DeBrincat, Lucas Raymond, Patrick Kane and Dylan Larkin all featured heavily in the Wings’ outing against Eastern Conference cellar-dweller the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday, Nov. 15. But what looked good through half a game at Little Caesars Arena looked less so by the end, as the Sabres made a night of it.
The Wings wound up setting for a point in a 5-4 loss, done in when Mattias Samuelsson scored in overtime. The Sabres (6-8-4) have just six wins in 18 games, but two of them have come against the Red Wings (10-7-1).
Tage Thompson, who once put up six points on the Wings, showed off his skill set when he carried the puck from his own zone all the way to Detroit’s net to pull his Sabres within a goal at 4:25 of the third period.
The Sabres scored a third straight goal midway through the second period, when Ryan McLeod got wide open while his team was shorthanded and made John Gibson pay for it.
Simon Edvinsson went down the tunnel early in the third period after a play in the third period in which he was called for high-sticking, leaving Jonatan Berggren to serve the penalty. Berggren took a penalty of his own shortly after the Sabres had pulled even.
The Sabres were short three players to injury the last few minutes, yet still managed to take a too-many-men penalty with 2:33 to play.
The second half came after everything seemed to be going the Wings’ way. Kane began the scoring when he positioned himself to the right of Buffalo’s net, in a perfect spot to redicted Ben Chiarot’s pass from near the blue line to make it 1-0 at 10:23 of the first period.
But just like their game on Thursday (a 6-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks), the Wings were scored on before any momentum could be built. This night it was Alex Tuch flipping backhand shot behind a sprawled Gibson. Shots were 5-4 to the Sabres after the first period.
Building a lead in the second
DeBrincat caught a pass from Raymond mere feet from the net and was able to tap his own rebound in, picking the puck off Ellis’ pads and making it 2-1 at 3:52 of the second period.
A shortlived power play ended when Kane was sent to the box 14 seconds in, but Larkin made it 3-1 during four-on-four play. He sent a pass to Raymond and then hustled to the net to catch the return pass and scored for the 11th time this season. When the Wings went on a another power play midwaty through the period, DeBrincat was credited with his second of the night when he got a pass from Raymond and an attempted cross-crease pass to Kane went in off Samuelsson’s stick.
Josh Doan scored on a tip with 2:02 to play, and Edvinsson put the Sabres on a power play with 1:37 to play in the second period.
The Wings won’t have much time to dwell on the loss, as they head to New York to face the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Detroit).
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