RECAP: Red Wings battle back but come up short in Buffalo, 5-3

BUFFALO -- Though the Detroit Red Wings’ three-game winning streak ended with Saturday afternoon’s 5-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center, Moritz Seider knows the club has an opportunity to bounce back in a little more than 24 hours when the Edmonton Oilers visit Little Caesars Arena.

“We would have loved to just run with it a little bit longer,” Seider said. “I think there’s a lot of positives we can take away. We were one post off from going into overtime, so that’s obviously good stuff. We don’t want to go fighting in overtime. We want to play a good 60 minutes, and I think we can learn something out here.”

Goalie Alex Lyon finished with 34 saves for the Red Wings (4-4-0; 8 points), while netminder Ukko-Pekkaa Luukkonen made 22 saves for the Sabres (4-4-1; 9 points).

“A team like this at home, we’re coming off two elite teams at home, you need to be at your best for the full 60 minutes,” Detroit head coach Derek Lalonde said. “You can’t give them easy offense. We gave that top line the offense they were looking for, and probably a credit to their game.”

Getting their first power-play opportunity of the game after a hooking call on Marco Kasper, the Sabres capitalized when Jason Zucker grabbed the rebound from Tage Thompson’s shot and put it home to make it 1-0 at 4:04 of the first period.

Detroit allowed its first even-strength goal in 183:12, as Thompson buried a shot after a tic-tac-toe passing play to double it 2-0 for Buffalo at the 12-minute mark of the first period.

A rocket of a slap shot from Alex DeBrincat, who was assisted by Seider and Lucas Raymond, trimmed the Red Wings’ deficit to 2-1 at 14:43 of the first period. DeBrincat has three points (two goals, one assist) in his last three contests, and four goals on the season.

“I didn’t like our first [period],” Lalonde said. “Some wall battles that we lost, and they ended up with a little bit too much zone time, then obviously the turnover that led to the transition goal. I thought after that, over the last 40 minutes, we cleaned some of that up.”

Thompson’s second goal, a one-timer off a backhand pass at the wall from Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin, made it 3-1 just 3:20 into the second period.

But just 31 seconds later, Michael Rasmussen moved Detroit within 3-2 by flipping in a rebound over Luukkonen’s shoulders from in front of the crease. The assists on Rasmussen’s second goal of the season went to Seider and Simon Edvinsson.

“I liked our offense in the o-zone in the last 40 minutes,” Lalonde said. “The first period was on us. We lost some puck battles on the way out, a couple turnovers ended up with some extended zone time.”

Raymond’s first career NHL short-handed goal tied the game 3-3 at 11:02 of the second period. After snatching the puck from Thompson in the Red Wings’ defensive zone, Raymond raced down the ice and led the way on an odd-man rush to notch what also was his first tally of the season.

“It’s always good to get a goal in,” said Raymond, who leads Detroit with eight points (one goal, seven assists) in eight games this season.

Bowen Byram regained the lead for Buffalo when he threw a shot from the point and, after a couple of unfortunate bounces inside of a crowded Detroit crease, it snuck in to make it 4-3 at 15:54 of the second period.

Trailing late in regulation, Patrick Kane nearly tied it for the Red Wings when he rang a shot off the post. But the puck bounced right to Jack Quinn, who quickly sent it down the ice into an empty net to seal it 5-3 with 48 seconds remaining.

“We would have loved to have some bounces with us,” Raymond said. “At the same time, we think we didn’t quite reach our level tonight and maybe didn’t earn those bounces. We had looks, but just keep building.”

NEXT UP: Detroit will battle Edmonton at Little Caesars Arena on Sunday night.

POSTGAME

Lalonde on the Red Wings’ penalty kill against the Sabres

“PK as a whole was much better. We didn’t give up a whole lot, especially since that’s a talented group. I think that was a step in the right direction. The PK, obviously, went even on it basically with the short-handed goal for. That was a positive step.”

Lalonde on Lyon’s afternoon

“They’re always a tough team. They are towards the top of most underlying numbers offensively. They’re a handful, and I thought for the most part he did a good job for us.”

Seider on what switching up the lines did for Detroit

“I wouldn’t say it’s like an identity of ours, but I think we switched our lines after the first game. It’s not a big deal for anyone in here. I think just trying to mix something up, try to spark it and maybe get Buffalo’s matchups off a little bit too.”

Raymond on what Buffalo did well on Saturday

“They came out really hard. They took charge early, and towards the end of the second [period] we started to take over and get more zone time, getting more looks. We want to have better starts and get off on the right foot, but I think we played pretty good at the end of the first.”