The Detroit Red Wings have been hot since right before Thanksgiving and hope to feast on an Atlantic Division opponent Tuesday night.
Winners of five of their past six games, including Saturday night’s 5-4 overtime thriller in Montreal, the Wings square off against the host Buffalo Sabres in the first of four matchups this season.
Buffalo received a surprise on Tuesday as injured star Tage Thompson participated in the morning skate and declared himself ready to return for the game against Detroit.
Thompson has been sidelined since sustaining an upper-body injury after blocking a shot from defenseman Charlie McAvoy in Buffalo’s 5-2 loss to the Boston Bruins on Nov. 14. The Sabres lost six of nine games (3-5-1) in his absence.
The Wings and coach Derek Lalonde are probably still dealing with the wave of emotions from beating the Canadiens — finally — after appearing to be in good shape through two periods.
The visitors held a two-goal lead over the Canadiens following three straight first-period tallies by Joe Veleno, Christian Fischer and Daniel Sprong. Alex DeBrincat added a fourth in the second frame for a 4-2 advantage.
However, the Habs’ Nick Suzuki and Gustav Lindstrom scored goals to send the game to overtime before Detroit defenseman Jake Walman won it less than a minute into three-on-three play.
Walman took a feed from Dylan Larkin at the top of the left circle and blasted a slapper for his fifth tally and his second game-winning goal this season.
“We could’ve gotten down on ourselves, but it was a good team effort,” said Walman, whose squad started its good play with a 4-0 win over the New Jersey Devils on Nov. 22.
“Those are two good points. … We let (our compete) slip a little bit. It was good on the guys for digging deep and getting at that point and getting the extra point. It’s not always going to be sunshine and rainbows.”
Added Lalonde, “Probably a little fatigue crept in — three (games) in four (nights).”
In Sunday night’s game against visiting Nashville, the Sabres threw everything at Predators goaltender Juuse Saros in the final seconds with the extra skater to try to knot the contest.
Henri Jokiharju, Kyle Okposo and Zach Benson all had whacks at the puck near the blue paint inside the last five seconds, but the Finnish netminder withstood the flurry to hang on for a 2-1 Nashville victory.
Victor Olofsson notched Buffalo’s only goal on a penalty shot at the game’s midpoint.
The Sabres have slumped since the early part of November, trying to find their game and keep up in the Atlantic standings.
Over the past 11 games, coach Don Granato’s bunch has recorded just three wins and seven points (3-7-1). It holds down seventh place in the eight-team division, leading only the Ottawa Senators.
Dylan Cozens would like to see everyone toughen up more.
“We need to go in and look at each game like this is our game,” the second-line center said. “‘This is our game to win. We’re not going to give you guys a chance.
“We need to finish more checks, be harder to play against, stronger on puck battles. We need to kill plays in the defensive zone. We’ve got to be way harder to play against.”
While trying to chase down Filip Forsberg on a breakaway in the third period, Buffalo’s Alex Tuch clutched his right hamstring, headed to the dressing room and did not return.
He joins Jordan Greenway as Buffalo forwards listed day-to-day with injuries who might not play Tuesday.
Sabres wingers Zemgus Girgensons and Jack Quinn will continue to miss time while on injured reserve with more serious ailments.
–Field Level Media
