Nedeljkovic gets first shutout with Red Wings against Sabres

Alex Nedeljkovic made 22 saves for his first shutout with the Detroit Red Wings, a 4-0 win against the Buffalo Sabres at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday.

Nedeljkovic, who was 0-2-0 in his past three starts, played in front of his grandparents for the first time in his NHL career.
"We're going to have to get them on the plane with us to Buffalo to keep this going," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "I didn't know about that, that's awesome for him. That's great."

Tyler Bertuzzi had a goal and two assists, Lucas Raymond had a goal and an assist, and Dylan Larkin had two assists for Detroit (17-17-5), which had lost four in a row (0-2-2).
"This is a huge win for us, because we needed to end the losing streak, especially after getting shut out at home in our last game (3-0 by the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday)," Bertuzzi said. "We can't just do it tonight, though. We have to come out in our next game and back this up."
Aaron Dell made 35 saves for Buffalo (11-20-6), which is 1-5-1 in its past seven games.
"This was close to the opposite of what we saw against Nashville (a 4-1 win Thursday)," Sabres coach Don Granato said. "There's no way to sugarcoat it. It just wasn't good enough from start to finish."
Bertuzzi gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead at 8:57 of the first period, knocking in a rebound for a power-play goal. Robby Fabbri scored on a power play at 19:09, getting Bertuzzi's pass across the top of the crease to make it 2-0.
"They got those two power-play goals in the first period and got some momentum, but we need to clean that up," Sabres defenseman Robert Hagg said. "We need to be better on the kill and help our goalie out there. [Dell] is the only guy who can feel good about himself tonight."
The Red Wings finished the first period with a season-high 22 shots.
Buffalo was 0-for-3 on the power play in the second period and 0-for-5 in the game.
"We did nothing on the power play," Granato said. "You have to find something there. You have to dig and fight. The power plays just exemplified the rest of the game."

Raymond scored 13 seconds into the third period to make it 3-0. The Red Wings forward ended a 14-game drought and leads NHL rookies with 32 points (11 goals, 21 assists).
"I think the biggest thing is that he won't have to answer any more questions about it," Blashill said. "We weren't worried about it, because he was still creating chances and still helping us win hockey games, but you certainly feel better when you get one to go in."
Michael Rasmussen made it 4-0 at 12:24, scoring on a breakaway out of the penalty box on a pass from Bertuzzi.
"Our special teams were huge tonight," Bertuzzi said. "Our power play was good and our kill was even better."
NOTES:Nedeljkovic's last shutout was May 19 with the Carolina Hurricanes against the Nashville Predators in the 2021 Stanley Cup First Round. He was traded to Detroit on July 22 for Jonathan Bernier and a 2021 third-round pick. … Blashill made changes to his top two lines and moved Bertuzzi onto a line with Fabbri and Pius Suter. They previously played together for Guelph of the Ontario Hockey League, which was a finalist for the 2014 Memorial Cup. … Bertuzzi has three multipoint games in his past four (seven points; three goals, four assists). ... The teams complete the home-and-home on Monday in Buffalo at 1 p.m. ET.