Trending: Zetterberg hits big milestone as Larkin spurs comeback

BUFFALO -- While one Detroit Red Wings veteran hit a big milestone, one of the team's young stars helped spur a comeback.
The Wings rallied from a 2-0 deficit to earn a 6-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center Thursday night.

The Wings improved to 29-38-11 overall and 14-23-3 on the road while the Sabres fell to 24-41-12 overall and 11-24-5 at home.
Dylan Larkin, Darren Helm (shorthanded), Anthony Mantha, Andreas Athanasiou, Danny DeKeyser and Evgeny Svechnikov scored for Detroit while Jack Eichel, Ryan O'Reilly (power play) and Evan Rodrigues scored for Buffalo.
1. Henrik Zetterberg: Detroit's captain isn't scoring at the same rate that he did last season when he led the team in scoring with 68 points while playing all 82 games. But that doesn't mean he isn't still an effective player. When Zetterberg got the second assist on DeKeyser's goal at 10:10 of the third period, it marked his 954th career point, tying him with Sergei Fedorov for fifth in team history. It is also the 11th time in his career that Zetterberg has reached 50 points. Zetterberg played 21 shifts for 16:15, led the team with six shots and won 8-of-16 face-offs.
Quotable: "It obviously is something that is special, probably more so when you look back at your career. You'll probably think about that a lot more. I saw Bert picked up the puck. I knew I was close but I wasn't really sure where I was. But it was a nice goal. I enjoy every minute with these guys. Being a part of a really tight group. I thought even last year when we struggled, I thought we had a good group of guys. It's fun to be a part." - Zetterberg
Quotable II: "I was just talking with my dad a couple of days ago and we just talked about the way (Zetterberg) plays the game and the way he is so patient in a full 60-minute game. He understands that a lot of nights, if you play 19 minutes, nothing's gonna go on for 19 minutes and 59 seconds. It's that one second you get where he makes it count. My dad and I were talking about how much we admire how he plays the right way. He waits for his opportunity and then when he gets his opportunity, he makes the most of it." - Larkin
Quotable III: "I've felt this way for a long time. I think both (Zetterberg) and (Pavel Datsyuk) could have cheated for more points and maybe had more points but not won nearly as much. That's just the reality of if you cheat, maybe you get more points but you never win. He's one of the best winners of his generation without any shadow of a doubt. As this organization started to get hit a little bit by the salary cap, and the lack of draft picks, he just kept picking this organization up and putting them in the playoffs every year. That's what he did. You go back to the game in Dallas, long time, I think six or seven years ago, when he got the team in the playoffs. That's just what he's done. He's been one of the best winners in the league for a long time." - Wings coach Jeff Blashill
2. Dylan Larkin: Larkin's main focus this season has been on becoming an excellent two-way center who makes his linemates better. So even though he leads the team in shots, Larkin has been working to get his wingers better scoring chances. As a result, Larkin leads the Wings in assists with 45. However, Larkin believes he can score more goals as well. In the last several games, he has done just that. At 7:41, 30 seconds after the Sabres had taken a 2-0 lead, Larkin drove to the mid-slot and fired the puck past Buffalo goaltender Robin Lehner. Evgeny Svechnikov got the lone assist, the first assist of his NHL career. Larkin also assisted on Svechnikov's goal at 16:59 of the third period. Larkin led all forwards with 20:09 ice time. had four shots and was plus-2.
Quotable: "It's not everything. It feels good. It does feel good to score. It's not been everything this year for me. It is a stat that's really important in this league and as a player, you want to score goals. All year I just wanted to be a good, solid 200-foot player, power play, penalty kill, a guy that makes my linemates better. It's definitely a bonus to be rewarded the last six games." - Larkin
Quotable II: "As I said before, he came into this league flying and everything went well for him. Then last year, when he played as a center it's a little different. But I think this year he really is playing hockey the right way. He learned to take responsibility both ways. If you think about it he picked it up pretty quick. He's playing PK, power play, taking big face-offs. For a guy that's been here a long time, I'm happy to see his development. We all know he's gonna be here and be real good for many years." - Zetterberg
Quotable III: "That's what I love about him. He's totally self-accountable. He's not an excuse maker. He looks at that type of situation and says, 'I gotta be better than that.' I think he thought he could've stopped on the puck and had the puck and went the other way. It's the same thing the other night. He wants those match-ups. He wants to play against Eichel. He wants to play against (Sidney) Crosby. And he knows to do it you gotta play a great 200-foot game. That's why he'll become the very best he can, because he's so self-accountable." - Blashill
3. Darren Helm/Anthony Mantha: Helm has always had the speed but hasn't always displayed a finishing touch. But this season that has changed. Helm has fooled goaltenders by just shooting right at them without trying to make a move to fake them out. But with Justin Abdelkader in the penalty box for slashing, Helm broke free and deked Lehner right and then put the puck in the open net at 5:21 of the second period, tying the game, 2-2. It was Helm's second shorthanded goal of the season. He joins Larkin, Frans Nielsen, and Luke Glendening with two shorthanded goals apiece. The Wings have scored nine shorthanded goals this season. It is the 10th shorthanded goal that the Sabres have allowed this season, tying them with the Arizona Coyotes, Philadelphia Flyers, Vancouver Canucks, New York Islanders and Boston Bruins for second-most shorthanded goals allowed. The Colorado Avalanche have given up a league-high 12.
Quotable: "I think the one thing, and I think Anthony's realized this through the year. If you would've asked him at the start of the year I don't think he would've said his preferred spot was the net front. I think he's seen through the year, that spot produces a lot of goals if you have good hands around the net and he does. He tipped the puck to start it. It's a tap in, but it's one he created with the tip. There's a lot of goals to be had around that net. I think he's bought into it more and more as we went along. I think that'll help him get to the high goal mark that he wants to get to." - Blashill
Quotable II: "That was good. I think it had been awhile. They scored one, but I thought our PK did a great job. (Jimmy Howard) was great again. I enjoy scoring shorthanded goals. I don't know if (assistant coach Doug Houda) cares as much about it, but I like seeing a shorthanded goal." - Larkin