RECAP: Red Wings' comeback falls short in 6-3 loss to Sabres on Thursday

BUFFALO - For the second straight night, the Detroit Red Wings surrendered four goals in a period, but unlike Wednesday's historic comeback, the Red Wings' comeback fell short on Thursday as they dropped a 6-3 decision to the Buffalo Sabres at the KeyBank Center.

After leading, 1-0, through the first period, the Sabres' NHL-leading offense exploded for four goals in a 13:28 span-including three tallies in 3:34-in the second frame to take a commanding lead.
Just as they did the night before, the Red Wings kept fighting despite a big deficit, scoring three goals-two by Dominik Kubalik-in less than five minutes in the third period to give themselves a chance.
But with Detroit goalie Magnus Hellberg pulled for an extra attacker with 4:55 to go, Sabres captain Kyle Okposo secured his hat trick with an empty-net goal at 16:22 of the third to put the game out of reach.
After allowing zero goals in 40 minutes of relief on Wednesday, Hellberg got the start in net for the Red Wings on Thursday, but the Swedish goaltender couldn't replicate his success in back-to-back nights, giving up five goals in the loss.
Sabres backup goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 28 saves to earn his fifth win of the season in his first career appearance against Detroit.
"I appreciated the comeback. Gave ourselves a chance there in the third," Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde told Bally Sports Detroit's Trevor Thompson after the game. "But the playbook on them is you can't give them easy offense. Three goals in the second period where the puck is literally on our stick and it ends up being in the slot for a grade-A (chance), and they capitalized."
With the loss the Red Wings dropped to 15-12-7 (37 points) this season, while the Sabres won their fifth straight game to improve to 17-14-2 (36 points).
NEXT UP: The Red Wings return to Little Caesars Arena for the first time in 10 days for their annual New Year's Eve game against the Ottawa Senators at 7 p.m.

SCORING SUMMARY:
Buffalo 1, Detroit 0 (15:32, first period)
Jonathan Berggren was called for tripping at 13:29 to give the Sabres their first power play of the game. Just as the power play ended, JJ Peterka fired a shot from the slot that deflected off Jake Walman and bounced directly to Casey Mittelstadt on the doorstep, and Mittelstadt easily scored on the wide-open net to take a 1-0 lead with 4:28 to go in the first. The first overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, Owen Power, was also credited with an assist on the goal.
Buffalo 2, Detroit 0 (1:20, second period)
Filip Hronek tried to clear the defensive zone but fanned on the puck in traffic, allowing Jeff Skinner to collect it and fire a quick shot from slot, unassisted, that beat Hellberg top-shelf to make it a 2-0 game.
Buffalo 3, Detroit 0 (10:28, second period)
Elmer Soderblom was called for tripping at 9:14 of the second and the NHL's second-best power-play unit took advantage. Buffalo was quickly moving the puck in their offensive zone and after a shot from the point hit Walman, Mittlestadt fed the loose puck toward the net and Hronek inadvertently knocked it into his own goal to give the Sabres a 3-0 lead.
Buffalo 4, Detroit 0 (11:21, second period)
Less than a minute later, Buffalo made it a 4-0 game when alternate captain Zemgus Girgensons collected a loose puck behind Detoit's net and quickly found Okposo by himself in front of the goal. Okposo fired a shot top-shelf that beat Hellberg.
Buffalo 5, Detroit 0 (14:02, second period)
Hronek's tough night continued when Sabres forward Tyson Jost stole the puck from him behind Detroit's net and found a wide-open Okposo in front again. Okposo's second goal of the night gave Buffalo a 5-0 lead.
Buffalo 5, Detroit 1 (2:35, third period)
The Red Wings got on the board when Soderblom collected a loose puck in the offensive zone, made a couple nice moves in front of the net and fed a perfect pass to Kubalik, who buried a shot that beat a sprawling Luukkonen to cut Buffalo's lead to 5-1.

Buffalo 5, Detroit 2 (4:23, third period)
Less than two minutes later, the Red Wings struck again, on the power play, as Joe Veleno secured an offensive rebound and fed Kubalik, who scored from the right circle for his second goal of the night to make it a 5-2 game.

Buffalo 5, Detroit 3 (7:11, third period)
Berggen won a battle along the offensive boards and slid a pass to Andrew Copp, who found Jordan Oesterle open in the right circle. Oesterle's one-time shot found the back of the net to cut Buffalo's lead to 5-3.

Buffalo 6, Detroit 3 (16:22, third period)
Okposo secured his hat trick and sealed the game for the Sabres after Girgensons collected a loose puck behind Detroit's net and fed Okposo in front for the empty-net goal.