Sabres squander early momentum in loss to Red Wings

Between the excitement surrounding Casey Mittelstadt's debut and the quick two-goal lead for the home team, there was a palpable energy at KeyBank Center in the early going of the Buffalo Sabres' game against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night.
One mistake led to another, however, and eventually a series of miscues by the Sabres piled up into a 6-3 loss.
The Sabres led 2-0 by the 7:11 mark of the first period on the strength of goals from Jack Eichel and Ryan O'Reilly. The lead was short-lived, as Dylan Larkin scored to put the Red Wings on the board just 30 seconds later.

"It just seemed like we never really had our game going again after that," Eichel said. "There were spurts of it, there were some good things. But consistently, shift in and shift out, I thought it wasn't really where we wanted it to be.
"Every play matters. Every pass, every shot, everything. It all goes into winning hockey. I thought maybe there were times when we took shifts off or took plays off and let our foot off the gas."

After the Sabres missed on a pair of shorthanded breakaways in the first period, Darren Helm scored on one of his own to tie the game early in the second. Anthony Mantha scored the go-ahead goal before the end of the period, and Andrea Athanasiou padded the lead 1:50 into the third.
Athanasiou's goal was the product of a turnover in the neutral zone. After Evan Rodrigues scored to bring the Sabres back within a goal with 15:09 still left to play, a long shift in their own zone led to Danny DeKeyser scoring to re-claim the Red Wings' two-goal lead.
Evgeny Svechnikov capped the scoring for the Red Wings, once again the product of a turnover in the neutral zone. This time, Chad Johnson was headed off the ice, leaving the net wide open.
"I think we just made too many critical mistakes at the wrong time," Sabres coach Phil Housley said. "Whether it was just going back and retrieving the puck or that shorthanded goal [which] took a lot of wind out of our sails.
"You get within a goal, we're turning the puck over. We're trying to get our goalie off and we … turn the puck over. So, it's just a matter of mistakes and a little bit of special teams."
Johnson entered the game to begin the third period in relief of Robin Lehner, who allowed three goals on 20 shots. Housley did not have an update on Lehner's condition after the game.
Perhaps the sole bright spot of the night was the debut for Mittelstadt, who earned his first NHL point when he won the faceoff to set up Rodrigues' goal in the third period. Housley said he was impressed with the 19-year-old forward's game, especially considering it was his first since March 5.

"I was really satisfied," Housley said. "To be not playing for a month and come into a tough situation, I thought he handled himself really well. A lot of the mistakes he made, you could just see he was a little rusty right now, but he certainly did a lot of good things out there."
Mittelstadt was greeted to a warm reception from the crowd, who responded with a loud ovation when he took the ice for his first shift of the game. Even during the national anthem, the honored military member was donning Mittelstadt's No. 37 sweater.
Mittelstadt, selected by Buffalo with the No. 8 pick in the draft last June, said he caught wind of the excitement surrounding his arrival.
"I mean, for the most part you're in the game but I definitely felt it a little bit," he said. "It's cool to see that and it's cool to have people excited that I'm here. Obviously, I'm excited to be here too."

Eichel nets his 25th

Eichel's goal was his 25th of the season, a new career-high. The forward had landed on 24 goals in each of his first two campaigns, despite missing the first 20 games of last season with a high-ankle sprain. The goal came in typical Eichel fashion, with a burst of speed and a well-placed shot to the far side.

Despite missing 15 games with another high-ankle sprain this season, Eichel has already set career-highs in even-strength goals (21) and points (41), as well as primary points (26). His 57 points overall match the career-high he set last season.

Up next

Housley will return to Nashville when the Sabres visit the Predators to begin a two-game road trip on Saturday night. Coverage on MSG-B begins at 7:30 p.m. with the GMC Game Night Pregame Show, or you can listen live on WGR 550. Puck drop is scheduled for 8.
The Sabres conclude their home schedule against the Ottawa Senators next Wednesday. It will be Fan Appreciation Night at KeyBank Center, with all fans in attendance receiving a commemorative Dominik Hasek bobblehead. More giveaways will follow throughout the night.

Tickets for Wednesday are available here. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30.