Detroit Red Wings ‘We weren’t prepared’ for pace against Sabres
Detroit Red Wings J.T. Compher, Emmitt Finnie, Alex DeBrincat & Todd McLellan, Oct. 22, 2025 in Buffalo, N.Y.
The Detroit Red Wings return home humbled after going from bad to worse in their first multi-game trip of the season.
Mixing up their lines as they took on the New York Islanders didn’t spark anything; the Wings melted to the tune of a 7-2 loss on Thursday, Oct. 23, at UBS Arena. The confidence earned from a five-game winning streak took a beating as the Wings (5-3-0) now take a two-game losing streak up into their next game, Saturday at home against the St. Louis Blues.
The Wings, playing for a third straight game without Patrick Kane as he heals from an upper-body injury, flipped Lucas Raymond to the second line and Alex DeBrincat to the top line. But nothing could counter the total disintegration of anything resembling a team game, as the Islanders routed the Wings. When Dylan Larkin scored on a power play 3:11 into the third period, the Islanders already had scored five times. They kept going, too, with Emil Heineman and Simon Holmstrom scoring less than a minute apart.
Jonatan Berggren scored his first goal of the season, in his fourth game, in the waning minutes. Rookie Michael Brandsegg-Nygård earned an assist for his first career NHL point.
It was the Wings’ largest margin of loss of the season, and left them outscored, 11-4 on the two-game trip.
The Wings, coming off an unimpressive performance in a 4-2 loss at Atlantic Division rival Buffalo 24 hours earlier, looked even worse against the Islanders. Two minutes after the puck dropped, Berggren shot the puck wide, and Brandsegg-Nygård’s pass intended for Albert Johansson was picked off, leading to the Islanders going up ice. Anders Lee had the puck along the left flank and fired a pass across the ice to Tony DeAngelo, who was several paces ahead of a trailing Berggren and had time to get off a good shot that beat Cam Talbot.
The deficit grew near the 15-minute mark of the first period when Heineman finished an odd-man rush by dishing the puck from near the same spot as DeAngelo. The Isles’ 11-5 edge in shots was the same as the Sabres’ the previous night.
The Islanders continued to feast in the second period. At 7:25, Jean-Gabriel Pageau skated to the net past disinterested Wings defenders and whipped in a wrist shot. At 13:09, Kyle Palmieri picked up a goal when Ryan Pulock’s shot went in off Palmieri’s skate while he was in the crease. The Wings unsuccessfully challenged goaltender interference, leaving them shorthanded for a third time. At 19:34, Matthew Barzal sent the Wings into the second intermission trailing by five.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com.
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