*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*
Needing a way to break the skid, the Detroit Red Wings got a gift in the form of a matchup with the Buffalo Sabres. Tyler Bertuzzi scored, Lucas Raymond scored, and the Red Wings shut out the Sabres with a 4-0 win on home ice Saturday night.
It was Bertuzzi leading the way for Detroit, scoring a goal and adding two assists. Dylan Larkin had a two assist night as well, and Raymond added a goal and an assist, snapping a 14 game goal drought. The Red Wings also snapped a 4 game losing streak, having gone 0-2-2 in their last 4 games.
Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill said of Raymond breaking his goal drought that "I think the biggest thing is that he won't have to answer any more questions about it. We weren't worried about it, because he was still creating chances and still helping us win hockey games, but you certainly feel better when you get one to go in."
Kicking off the scoring in this one was Bertuzzi, who scored on the power play 8:57 into the game to give the Red Wings a 1-0 lead, his 18th goal of the season, with Larkin and Filip Zadina assisting. They were on the power play again with 51 seconds to go in the first period, when Robby Fabbri scored his 10th goal of the season, making it 2-0 Detroit on assists by Bertuzzi and Raymond.
After the second period went scoreless, Raymond opened the 3rd period with his 11th goal of the season just 13 seconds into the period, assisted by Larkin and Vladislav Namestnikov, making the lead 3-0. Michael Rasmussen then scored his 4th goal of the season 12:24 into the 3rd period, making it 4-0 and sealing the win.
Bertuzzi said of breaking the losing streak that "This is a huge win for us, because we needed to end the losing streak, especially after getting shut out at home in our last game. We can't just do it tonight, though. We have to come out in our next game and back this up."
Snapping a skid of his own in net for Detroit was Alex Nedeljkovic, who was 0-2-0 in his last 3 starts. Nedeljkovic responded with a brilliant shutout, stopping all 22 shots that the Sabres sent his way, a perfect night in goal. With the win, his record bumps up to 11-10-4 in 24 starts this season.
Opposing Nedeljkovic on the other side of the ice was Aaron Dell, who couldn't end the misery, as Buffalo is now 1-5-1 in their last 7 games. Dell saved 35 of the 39 shots on goal Detroit sent his way, posting a .897 save percentage. With the loss, Dell's record drops to 1-6-0 in 9 total appearances for the Sabres.
Sabres defenseman Robert Hagg said of the loss that "They got those two power-play goals in the first period and got some momentum, but we need to clean that up. We need to be better on the kill and help our goalie out there. Dell is the only guy who can feel good about himself tonight."
Up next, both teams square off again on Monday night, this time in Buffalo. Thomas Greiss is expected to start for the Red Wings, with Dell a likely candidate to go for the Sabres.
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