DETROIT (AP) Lucas Raymond, Patrick Kane and Dylan Larkin all scored in the first period and Alex Lyon made 37 saves and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-1 on Sunday.
The win gives Detroit 84 points, moving them past idle Pittsburgh and Philadelphia into the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Washington Capitals blowing another late lead and losing in overtime to Ottawa kept the Red Wings in the top eight in the East.
āThatās points in four of our last six games. Thatās victories in two of our last three,ā Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. āWeāre slowly gobbling up some points, keeping ourselves in the fight. Weāve been getting some help around the league, but it comes to a point where we got to take care of ourselves and we did that today.ā
Raymond opened the scoring 53 seconds into the game as he scored his 26th of the season. In 12 games against the Sabres, he has five goals and 10 assists.
āIt feels good to get a win,ā Raymond said. āObviously maybe not our best game, but we found a way to get it done. Alex played great back in net. Big win.ā
Detroit won three of four games against Buffalo this season.
āIt (stinks),ā Sabres forward Alex Tuch said of losing two in a row to the Red Wings late in the season. āPlain and simple. Thereās no sugarcoating it.ā
Kane beat Buffalo defenders Bowen Byram and Henri Jokiharju and tucked the puck past goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen at 4:24, for his 19th of the season. He has 14 goals and 16 assists in 28 games against his hometown Sabres.
Larkin scored his 31st of the season on a power play at 7:37. Raymond had the primary assist. It's the 40th multi-point game of Raymond's career.
āRaymond has been unbelievable,ā Lalonde said. āYou could see Raymond building. The two years Iāve been here you could see the whole package building and now heās driving us in these big games.ā
Lyon, who stopped all 17 shots he faced in the third period, earned his 20th victory.
āTo be honest with you, itās largely a team stat, wins, to some degree,ā Lyon said. āI just think that itās like any goalie stat. Just appreciative of the guys. Just gotta keep battling. Weāve got five games left here, so I think thatās kind of where all of our minds are.ā
Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider had 10 of his teamās 27 blocked shots.
āI really, genuinely appreciate it,ā Lyon said. āI understand how to block shots with a whole host of gear. It hurts for those guys. It does. And Mo always has multiple ice bags on after every game. I give him a lot of credit. Heās fearless, along with all the other guys. It really resonates with our team a lot and I think it makes us better.ā
Tage Thompson scored his 29th of the season on the power play at 13:16 of the first, extending his goal streak to a season-best three games. Luukkonen had 21 saves for the Sabres.
āItās tough, because you build a game plan and then they get one and we let it turn into two and into three,ā Thompson said. āNow weāre in a hole, and it is tough when you are behind and trying to chase your way back into the game.ā
UP NEXT
Sabres: visit the Stars on Tuesday.
Red Wings: host the Capitals on Tuesday.
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