Red Wings hope they’re ‘back to old ways’ after complete effort
DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings emerged from a two-week nightmare Saturday back to where they were – in a playoff spot.
Their margin for error is much slimmer than it was prior to the seven-game losing streak that enabled multiple teams to get back in the postseason hunt.
But the Red Wings’ 4-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres at Little Caesars Arena reminded them of how they need to play to stay in the chase.
“I think we played a complete game start to finish,” Christian Fischer said. “Not too many lapses in the D-zone. They didn’t have too many extended shifts in a row in our zone. In between periods we talked about it. We just felt a different compete level, kind of back to our old ways.
“I think once we got up 2-1, we knew we were going to win that game, just on how we felt and everybody working. I think every guy was going tonight.”
The Red Wings (34-27-6, 74 points) moved one point ahead of the Islanders, who lost 4-3 in overtime to Ottawa. New York, however, has one game in hand.
The Sabres (32-31-5) were 8-3-1 in their previous 12, had won three in a row and could have closed to within a point of Detroit with a regulation win.
But the Red Wings’ compete level was significantly higher than it was during the slide, when they were outscored 36-12 and allowed four or more goals in each game.
“You see every guy having that second and third effort,” Fischer said. “You saw every single guy competing like our lives are on the line. That goes a long way when you see (Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat) throwing some hits around. Second and third sticks in the D-zone. Second efforts to get pucks out. Diving saves, big saves on the PK, block shots. I could go down the list of the little things that mean so much to the group.
“That type of feeling is what we had in January and February when we were rolling.”
The Red Wings hope to carry that momentum into Pittsburgh Sunday (6 p.m., Bally Sports Detroit).
Fischer tied the game in the second period by scoring after being dumped to the ice. Kane later in the period scored what proved to be the game-winner after a diving poke-check by J.T. Compher got him the puck. Daniel Sprong, a healthy scratch the previous game, scored a huge insurance goal in the third.
James Reimer overcame a soft goal in the first period to stop 25 shots for the win.
“I thought our sense of urgency was incredible,” Reimer said. “It was a complete buy-in. From my point of view watching the game, you felt comfortable back there, knowing guys were in their spots, guys were working. When they made good plays or were on the winning side of a few battles, our guys fought back and got back on the right side of the puck. It was a lot of fun to watch them.”
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