BUFFALO, N.Y. — Sebastian Cossa can look back on his NHL debut as a memorable one: He helped the Detroit Red Wings out of a dreary funk.
Monday’s game at KeyBank Center was a battle of mediocrity, with the Wings taking on an opponent struggling every bit as much to rise from the dredges of the Eastern Conference. Goalie Ville Husso lasted a period, replaced by the player the Wings hope is their goaltender of the future. The Wings rallied from two goals down in the third period to force the game past regulation, and goals from Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond in the shootout lifted the Wings to a 6-5 victory. That ended a five-game winless stretch and extended the Buffalo Sabres’ skid to seven games.
Alex DeBrincat and Andrew Copp scored in the first period as did Raymond in the second period as the Wings (11-13-4) broke out of the offensive slump that had marred their previous three outings, even as the defensive effort slipped. Copp came through with his second of the night midway through the period, and Moritz Seider scored with 4:18 left in regulation to make it 5-5.
Back-and-forth first
The Sabres established zone time out of the gate and were rewarded with a goal at 1:38 when Zach Benson fired a shot that hit the stick of Ben Chiarot in going past Husso. The Wings’ top line came through with a big shift a few minutes later, when DeBrincat shrugged off as many as three defenders while driving to Buffalo’s net and flipping the puck in behind former Wings goalie James Reimer. Copp tipped in J.T. Compher’s shot on net 39 seconds after DeBrincat’s goal, but the lead was leveled by Tage Thompson midway through the first period.
Husso starts
Husso made his fourth straight start and fifth straight appearance since Cam Talbot suffered a lower-body injury Dec. 1 (four days after Alex Lyon also was sidelined by a lower-body injury). On the second Buffalo goal, Thompson sent a pass to Jason Zucker, who beat Jeff Petry on a rush to Detroit’s net and was able to drop a pass back to Thompson, who shrugged off Tyler Motte on the play. At 15:26, Zucker fired a shot while Jordan Greenway screened Husso to give the Sabres three goals on six shots.
Cossa debuts
Cossa gave up his first NHL goal on the third shot he faced, with fourth-liner Nicolas Aube-Kubel having time and space to score from the right side of the net at 2:26, a little north of a minute after Raymond’s goal. Zucker drew the Sabres ahead by two goals when he took a pass from Ryan McLeod and shook off both Justin Holl and Erik Gustafsson to tuck in the puck down low 9:46 into the period. The Wings outshot the Sabres, 11-10 in the second period.
The rookie goalie recovered after that, finishing with 12 saves in regulation and overtime and stopping two of three Buffalo shots in the shootout.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.
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Her latest book, “The Franchise: Detroit Red Wings, A Curated History of the Red Wings,” was released October 2024. Her books, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” and “The Big 50: The Men and Moments that made the Detroit Red Wings” are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, “The Franchise: Detroit Red Wings, A Curated History of the Red Wings,” was released October 2024. Her books, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” and “The Big 50: The Men and Moments that made the Detroit Red Wings” are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.