The Detroit Red Wings had a rugged October schedule and that is reflected in their results. They emerged from the first month of the season with a 4-5-1 record and a three-game losing streak (0-2-1).
They will look to turn things around in November, beginning with a home game against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night.
Detroit is coming off a 6-2 loss to the visiting Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday. The Red Wings gave up three unanswered goals in the first period, rallied to cut the deficit to one after two periods, then let up a goal in the first 10 seconds of the third.
“We can’t have games like that. Most of the forwards were passengers,” Detroit captain Dylan Larkin said. “We didn’t help ourselves breaking the puck out and we can’t be outscored 5-0 (even strength) on home ice, even against a team with very skilled forwards. We gave them the puck too much. We let them do what they wanted in the O-zone and (it) really exposed us.”
Detroit has played far too often in its own zone, putting heavy pressure on its goaltenders. The Red Wings have been outshot 211-127 over the past six games.
“You look at the schedule before the season, we emphasized the start,” Larkin said. “The start wasn’t great, (but) we dug ourselves out of that hole. I’ll be very excited and interested to see how we respond to this game and really these last three games where we left points out there.”
The current slide began with a 5-3 loss at Buffalo. Tage Thompson was the catalyst for the Sabres in that game with two goals and an assist. Bowen Byram gave Buffalo a 4-3 lead late in the second period, and the Sabres added an empty-netter with 48 seconds remaining to clinch the victory.
The Sabres will be playing the second game of a back-to-back. They have lost both games since their home win in Detroit, falling to the Florida Panthers 5-2 on Monday and to the New York Islanders 4-3 on Friday.
Those contests finished off a 2-2-0 homestand for the Sabres.
Buffalo gave up two goals in the second period on Friday to fall behind 3-1.
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff was unhappy with the defensive effort.
“Let’s be real. We handed them three goals,” he said. “We’ve been playing pretty tight and it’s starting to slip. You’re not going to win a lot of games if you’re going to hand the opposition two or three breakaways or two-on-one or -nothing plays.”
Buffalo dropped to 4-6-1 on the season.
“When your vet guys are struggling and they’re thinking offense, eventually it’s going to bite you and it bit a few guys tonight,” Ruff said. “… I thought we had some players with 50-50 battles that we’ve got to be better on.”
Jason Zucker led the offense with a goal and an assist. Thompson had an assist to increase his team-high point total to 13.
Following the Saturday contest, the Red Wings play six of their next seven games on the road. The Sabres will play four of the ensuing five games at home.
