Red Wings’ Rally Falls Short Against Buffalo

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A late rally fell short as the Detroit Red Wings lost 5-4 in a shoot out to the Buffalo Sabres at Little Caesars Arena Wednesday night. In what was a promising start with Jonaton Berggren scoring his second goal of the year just minutes into the game, Buffalo answered and sucked the life out of LCA. Alex Nedeljkovic, who had his first start in nearly 12 games, struggled early and allowed two goals — including a short-handed goal — on the first five shots on goal.

Buffalo led 4-1 heading into the third period, the so called the worst lead in hockey. David Perron ignited the Red Wings late rally with his seventh goal of the year. Oskar Sundqvist connected on back to back goals within two minutes after several near misses to send the game into overtime. Detroit, whose power play has shown significant improvement under Coach Derek Lalonde, went 0-7. The most troubling moments on the power play came when the Wings failed to score on a huge 5 on 3 advantage, that lasted a minute, 27 seconds, to end regulation.

The Red Wings couldn’t find the back of the net in the shootout. Both Dylan Larkin and Perron rung the post on back to back shots. Buffalo’s Jack Quinn scored on a desperation diving shot that he stuffed past Nedeljkovic to end the night in Detroit.

Detroit (11-6-5) walks away with a point. It faces the Las Vegas Golden Knights at home Saturday night.

Scary Scenes for the Red Wings At LCA

There were two moments in the game that left Red Wing fans holding their breath. Halfway through the second period Calder Trophy Winner Moritz Seider took a 97 MPH slap shot to the back of his leg. Seider was down on the ice in pain before being rushed to the dressing room for treatment. Mo’ returned minutes later, shrugging it off like it never happened. Tyler Bertuzzi also had a scare in tonight’s game. Bertuzzi who just returned not long ago after missing 12 games. Took another puck, in what appeared to be the same hand he recently injured. He returned shortly after, but didn’t play see the ice in overtime.

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Photo Credit: © Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports