Red Wings rally, edge Sabres in shootout to end 5-game skid

BUFFALO -- Andrew Copp scored two goals for the Detroit Red Wings, who ended a five-game losing streak by rallying for a 6-5 shootout win against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Monday.

Copp pulled Detroit to within 5-4 at 10:27 of the third period when he knocked in a rebound in front. Moritz Seider then tied it 5-5 at 15:42, roofing a shot short side from the right circle.

“Really needed,” Seider said. “Obviously, a lot of highs, a lot of lows in the game. We were always in the battle and came up with a great win.”

Seider and Lucas Raymond each had a goal and an assist, and Dylan Larkin and J.T. Compher each had two assists for the Red Wings (11-13-4), who were 0-3-2 in their past five games.

“We needed one to go our way,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “What's ironic is it was probably one of our more sloppy games since we got back from the West Coast. ... We got a little sloppy tonight, but we produced some offense. So, give a lot of credit to the guys in there. You just don't come back from two goals down in the third period in this league, especially the way things have been going for us.”

Ville Husso allowed three goals on seven shots in the first period before being replaced by Sebastian Cossa, who made 12 saves in his NHL debut in relief.

“I was really focused on the first shot, got a save, and obviously not the second (shot) I wanted,” Cossa said. “But the team stuck with it with some big goals in the third there, and they helped me a lot in the third.”

Jason Zucker had two goals and an assist, and James Reimer made 26 saves for the Sabres (11-13-4), who have lost seven straight (0-4-3).

“I think we need to look at it straight in the face, honestly,” Zucker said. “I think we need to know that it’s seven in a row. We need to look in the mirror and go get after it. There’s no reason to sit here and be like ‘Oh, we’re doing this.’ We’ve lost seven in a row.

“We’re not playing well. We’ve got to, again, look in the mirror and understand where we’re at and at what point in the season we’re at here. We have a few games before Christmas. We’ve got to have a little bit more urgency, and we got to attack these games and end this right now.”

Zach Benson gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 1:38 of the first period when his wrist shot from the right circle deflected off the stick of Detroit defenseman Ben Chiarot and over the glove of Husso.

Alex DeBrincat tied it 1-1 at 4:05. He took a pass from Larkin, skated along the goal line to the front of the net, and lifted a backhand over Reimer’s blocker.

Copp scored 41 seconds later to give the Red Wings a 2-1 lead, tapping in a backdoor pass from Compher.

Tage Thompson tied 2-2 at 10:25, burying a centering pass from Zucker under Husso’s left pad.

Zucker then put the Sabres in front 3-2 during a delayed penalty at 15:26 of the first. He beat Husso five-hole through a screen by Jordan Greenway from the top of the left circle.

Raymond tied it 3-3 at 1:05 of the second period, taking a cross-ice pass from Larkin on a rush and scoring glove side from the right hash marks.

Nicolas Aube-Kubel put Buffalo back ahead 4-3 at 2:26. He tapped the puck into an open net after Beck Malenstyn redirected a point shot from Owen Power.

Zucker pushed it to 5-3 at 9:46, fighting through poke checks by Justin Holl and Erik Gustafsson before tucking a shot past Cossa’s outstretched right pad.

“I just thought we lost our composure (in the third period),” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “... When you’re going through a little stretch like this, you can see there were some guys that didn’t want to make a play. I thought we started the game pretty comfortable making plays, getting up ice, just couldn’t make that next play."

NOTES: Cossa is the 11th goalie in Red Wings history to earn a win in his NHL debut. ... Raymond has scored nine goals in his past 10 games. He also has 13 points during that stretch. ... Thompson has four goals in his past four games.