Yahoo Sports Win in Buffalo Provides Red Wings Relief and a Reminder
On Monday night in Buffalo, the Detroit Red Wings got exactly what they needed from their game against the Sabres: a win. As coach Derek Lalonde told reporters after the game, "We needed one to go our way. What's ironic is it was probably one of our more sloppy games probably since we got back from the West Coast...We got a little sloppy tonight, but we produced some offense, so [I] give a lot of credit to the guys to hang in there."
It wasn't just any win the Red Wings extracted via the shootout Monday night. It was a win that snapped a five-game losing streak. It was young netminder Sebastian Cossa's first NHL win. It was a win that brought relief for a locker room in dire need of it.
But it was also a win that reminded Detroit how the Red Wings came to find themselves in their present neighborhood—the cellar of the Eastern Conference. Throughout the night, there were plain moments of resilience and even command from Detroit, but the Red Wings were never far from peril.
In the first period, Detroit responded from an early goal against when Alex DeBrincat and Andrew Copp scored 41 seconds apart, only for the Sabres to find two more of their own before the first was up and take a 3-2 lead into intermission. At that point Cossa entered the game, and the Red Wings rode that emotional lift to a quick goal for Lucas Raymond, only to allow Buffalo back in front within 90 seconds.
In the featured video above, I discussed the signs of encouragement from last night's Red Wings win as well as the reminder of the collective struggles that leave Detroit just one point north of the conference's basement.
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