RECAP: Red Wings fall, 8-3, to Sabres

BUFFALO --The Detroit Red Wings fell, 8-3, to the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Monday night.

The Sabres led, 1-0, after the first period, but Olli Maatta opened the middle frame by tying the game. Buffalo responded with three straight goals, then David Perron cut the Red Wings' deficit in half just before the second intermission. Captain Dylan Larkin's shorthanded tally early in the third brought Detroit within one, 4-3, but the Sabres pulled away later in the period with three unanswered goals.
"It's a setback," Larkin said. "We didn't show up. They showed up."
Alex Nedeljkovic made 38 saves for Detroit (4-3-2; 10 points), which was outshot by Buffalo, 46-18. Gustav Lindstrom skated in his 100th career NHL game.
NEXT UP: The Red Wings will celebrate the 1997 Stanley Cup champions on Thursday night against the Washington Capitals as part of the
25th Anniversary Celebration at Little Caesars Arena
. Limited tickets remain available at
DetroitRedWings.com/Anniversary.

SCORING SUMMARY

Buffalo 1, Detroit 0 (16:52, 1st period)
After taking a cross-ice feed from Jeff Skinner, Tage Thompson opened the scoring for the Sabres when his one-timer from the edge of the left faceoff circle beat Nedeljkovic.
Detroit 1, Buffalo 1 (1:26, 2nd period)
Filip Hronek's pass bounced along the boards to Andrew Copp, who gathered the puck behind the Buffalo's net. Copp then fed Maatta at the top of the left faceoff circle, whose one-timer flew past Buffalo goalie Eric Comrie.

Buffalo 2, Detroit 1 (5:22, 2nd period)
Jack Quinn put the Sabres back on top with the second goal of his NHL career.
Buffalo 3, Detroit 1 (14:26, 2nd period)
Skinner's wrister found twine for his 300th career NHL goal, becoming the 212th player in league history to record 300 or more tallies in his career.
Buffalo 4, Detroit 1 (18:30, 2nd period)
Thompson notched his second goal of the night on a power play, collecting his fourth point of the game.
Detroit 2, Buffalo 4 (19:03, 2nd period)
Moritz Seider's sent the puck off the boards to Joe Veleno behind the Sabres' goal line. Veleno's centering pass found Perron racing into the slot, who scored his fifth goal of the season.
Detroit 3, Buffalo 4 (4:19, 3rd period)
Larkin's intended feed to Andrew Copp was blocked by Owen Power, but it went right back to the Red Wings captain near Buffalo's crease. Larkin scooped up the puck and buried it past Comrie for a shorthanded tally, the sixth of his NHL career.
Buffalo 5, Detroit 3 (12:53, 3rd period)
Rasmus Dahlin beat Nedeljkovic with a shot from the right faceoff circle on a power play.
Buffalo 6, Detroit 3 (14:47, 3rd period)
Dylan Cozens received a pass from Power, then skated into Detroit's zone and scored his fourth goal of the season.
Buffalo 7, Detroit 3 (15:58, 3rd period)
Thompson got the puck in the slot, created space and scored to complete the hat trick.
Buffalo 8, Detroit 3 (19:21, 3rd period)
With 39 seconds remaining, Rasmus Asplund found the back of the net to cap the scoring.

QUOTABLE

Head coach Derek Lalonde on Detroit's struggles against the Sabres
"This felt very Boston-like, where we spent penalty minutes for almost eight to 40 seconds. You give a team like that (Buffalo), with their skill, that many touches on 5-on-3 or 4-on-3, they just start feeling it."
Larkin on what went wrong for the Red Wings
"We just didn't show up from the start of the game. We had momentum going after the win against Minnesota, and that (Monday's game) was not it."