Larkin scores twice, Red Wings hold off Sabres for 3rd straight win

BUFFALO -- Dylan Larkin scored twice, and the Detroit Red Wings held on for their third straight win, 5-3 against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Tuesday.

Robby Fabbri and Michael Rasmussen each had a goal and an assist for the Red Wings (14-7-3), who have won six of their past seven games. Alex Lyon made 29 saves.

“[Detroit coach Derek Lalonde] talks about it a lot, quiet confidence,” said Larkin, the Detroit captain. “When things go a little sideways, we’ve got a good foundation of character and guys that can kind of calm it down. It’s just a good feeling. Winning’s contagious and when you start to feel good, you get used to those situations. Yeah, it was a little closer than we wanted, but two points is two points in this league.”

Jeff Skinner had a goal and an assist, and Eric Comrie made 22 saves for the Sabres (10-14-2), who have lost four straight and five of their past six.

“We’re professional athletes, this is what we do,” Buffalo captain Kyle Okposo said. “You’ve got to be able to give it up every game, regardless of what’s going on. I’ve been through streaks in the past where they look like there’s no end in sight, and this isn’t one of those. That’s not where we’re at. Today, I didn’t like our game at all.”

Larkin put Detroit up 1-0 at 3:40 of the first period, collecting a loose puck in the slot and shooting past Comrie on the glove side. 

Fabbri knocked a bouncing puck over Comrie from in front to make it 2-0 at 8:25. He has nine points (six goals, three assists) in his past seven games.

“I think he’s just doing some quality things around the whole ice to get himself in those positions and obviously, he’s cashing in right now,” Lalonde said.

Moritz Seider extended the lead to 3-0 with a one-timer from the point on the power play at 5:43 of the second period. 

Rasmussen got between the Buffalo defensemen and scored five-hole on a breakaway to push it to 4-0 at 13:55.

Rasmus Dahlin’s point shot on the power play cut it to 4-1 at 18:57.

Casey Mittelstadt narrowed it to 4-2 at 8:20, scoring short side from the bottom of the left circle off a cross-ice pass from Skinner, and Skinner took a puck off the boards and deked to his backhand on the power play to pull the Sabres to within 4-3 at 11:37.  

“Clock moving and their back was to the wall, and their mentality changed, obviously,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said. “The puck pressure, systematically, way better at pressuring pucks. Way more aggressive and assertive, handing off the pressure, supporting the next guy to pressure and more confidence with the puck. … Listen, you’re going to be vulnerable when you’re aggressive, you’re going to give stuff up. You’ve got to be comfortable with that. And when you’re not as successful as you want to be, you start fearing a mistake and you’re making the same mistake not being aggressive, and that’s the worst. That was the early part of the game.”

Larkin scored a short-handed goal into an empty net at 19:14 for the 5-3 final.

“The start was huge,” Larkin said. “I think the next step for us is just continuing that. When we get up 4-0, we can’t allow goals late in periods and we’ve done that two games in a row. We have to keep our foot on the gas or play a more simple game and continue to play offense. You can’t defend for 20 or 40 minutes in this league, teams are too good, they get feeling too good.”

NOTES: Buffalo forward Tage Thompson had an assist in 18:41 of ice time in his first game since Nov. 14 after sustaining an upper-body injury during a 5-2 loss to the Boston Bruins. ... Larkin got his 25th and 26th career points against Buffalo, his highest total against a single franchise. He also had his 100th multipoint game, the 17th player in Sabres history to reach the mark … Detroit (7-0-0) is one of five teams yet to lose when leading after the first period this season. It is 14-0-2 when scoring at least four goals. … Dahlin scored his 19th career power-play goal and tied Jason Woolley for fifth among defensemen in Sabres history. … Three Red Wings defensemen (Seider, Jeff Petry, Shayne Gostisbehere) factored on a goal in the game. Detroit has a combined 69 points from defensemen this season, tied with the Colorado Avalanche for second behind the Vancouver Canucks (82).