Samuelsson scores at 1:05 to end Buffalo’s 5-game losing streak
Sabres at Red Wings | Recap
DETROIT — Mattias Samuelsson scored at 1:05 of overtime, and the Buffalo Sabres ended a five-game losing streak by rallying for a 5-4 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday.
Samuelsson took a pass from Tage Thompson, who had knocked Alex DeBrincat off a loose puck, and beat John Gibson from the high slot for the Sabres, who trailed 4-1 in the second period.
“We started winning battles,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. “We weren’t doing that in the second period, and we were giving up goals.”
BUF@DET: Samuelsson nets Thompson’s gorgeous feed for OT winner
Buffalo hadn’t overcome a three-goal deficit to win since coming back from four goals down to beat the Chicago Blackhawks on March 28, 2022.
“We were just desperate in the third period,” Thompson said. “We’ve been losing a lot of games, and it is frustrating, We wanted to impose our will, get them back on their heels and try to gain the momentum.”
Josh Doan and Thompson each had a goal and an assist, and Alex Tuch and Ryan McLeod scored for Buffalo (6-8-4), which was 0-4-1 during its skid and won its first road game of the season (1-5-2). Colten Ellis made 24 saves and picked up his first NHL point with a third-period assist.
Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin had two assists in his return after missing three games. He had been in Sweden to be with his fiancée as she recovers from a heart transplant.
DeBrincat scored twice, Patrick Kane scored his 495th NHL goal and Lucas Raymond had three assists for Detroit (10-7-1), which has lost four of five (1-3-1). Moritz Seider had two assists and Gibson made 22 saves.
“It goes back to [training camp], which is when we started talking about game management and learning how to play in certain situations,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said. “Clearly, we haven’t learned that lesson.”
Doan got Buffalo within 4-2 at 17:58 of the second period, deflecting Dahlin’s point shot over Gibson’s left shoulder.
“I didn’t sense a change in momentum until that goal went in,” McLellan said. “We iced the puck unnecessarily, lost a draw and the puck was in our net.”
BUF@DET: Doan tips Dahlin’s shot off the face-off
Thompson made it 4-3 at 4:25 of the third period with a spectacular solo goal. Thompson picked up the puck in his own end, skated down the right wing, beat DeBrincat and then cut past Simon Edvinsson before slipping the puck past Gibson.
“After the third period, we said enough’s enough,” Thompson said. “It’s just an attitude.”
McLeod tied the game 4-4 at 9:28, stealing the puck from Seider and scoring a short-handed goal on a breakaway.
“I saw [Seider] looked a little tired and I thought I could take advantage of him,” McLeod said. “I jumped on him, got the puck and went down and scored.”
Kane scored at 10:23 of the first period to give Detroit the 1-0 lead, deflecting home Ben Chiarot’s pass from the side of the crease.
BUF@DET: Kane sneaks to the backdoor for 1-0 lead
Buffalo tied the game 1-1 at 10:52 when Tuch knocked the puck off Seider’s stick and past Gibson as the defenseman tried to clear a rebound.
DeBrincat made it 2-1 at 3:52, putting in his own rebound for his seventh goal of the season.
Dylan Larkin gave Detroit a 3-1 lead at 5:56, finishing off a give-and-go with Raymond with the teams skating at 4-on-4.
DeBrincat got his second goal of the period on the power play at 8:50 to make it 4-1 when his pass across the crease was deflected into the net by Samuelsson. Raymond picked up his third primary assist of the period.
“We had a three-goal lead with very little time left in the second period, but we just weren’t good enough in the third,” Raymond said. “We need to keep playing our game and stay under control. Tonight was definitely self-inflicted.”
NOTES: Ellis has two wins in his three NHL starts — both against Detroit. … Raymond’s three-assist second period was the first time a Red Wing had done that since DeBrincat had three in the first period in a 7-6 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Dec. 22, 2023. … The Sabres played much of the third period with 15 healthy skaters — 11 forwards and four defensemen — as Michael Kesselring, Tyson Kozak and Samuelsson were all injured. Samuelsson returned late in the period. Ruff said Kesselring has a lower-body injury that “doesn’t look good” but Kozak was about to return when the game ended.
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