Detroit captain Dylan Larkin scored two goals, including an empty-netter, as the Red Wings jumped on slumping Buffalo early and held off the host Sabres 5-3 on Tuesday.
Like Larkin, Robby Fabbri also scored in the first period to bring his total to eight in 12 games. He also had an assist.
Michael Rasmussen added a goal and an assist and Moritz Seider contributed a power-play tally for Detroit, which led 4-0 en route to its third straight win.
Red Wing goaltender Alex Lyon stopped 29 shots and was victorious for his fourth consecutive start.
Detroit has won six of its past seven contests and is 7-0-0 when leading after one period.
Jeff Skinner logged a goal and an assist and Rasmus Dahlin and Casey Mittelstadt also scored for the Sabres, who took their fourth straight defeat.
Eric Comrie made 22 saves but came up on the losing end for the fourth consecutive start.
After missing the previous nine games with an upper-body injury, Buffalo’s Tage Thompson had an assist in his return to action.
In the first period, Larkin’s marker at 3:40 was an amazing display of hand-eye coordination.
Lucas Raymond’s pass above the left circle was tipped by Thompson. Prepared for a one-timer, Larkin swung at the puck while it was in the air just above the ice, squared it up and rifled his ninth tally into the top right corner past Comrie.
Fabbri cleaned up a rebound for a 2-0 lead at 8:25 of the first.
In the second, Seider’s power-play goal made it 3-0 at 5:43, with Fabbri and Alex DeBrincat drawing helpers.
Rasmussen padded the lead to 4-0 on a breakaway at 13:55 of the middle period, slipping the puck between Comrie’s pads.
Dahlin put Buffalo on the board by scoring on a power play with 63 seconds left until the second intermission.
Mittelstadt scored at 8:20 of the third on a pass from Skinner, who recorded his 300th career assist, as Buffalo made a hard push.
Skinner cut it to 4-3 on the power play with a backhander from a sharp angle at 11:37.
Skinner drew a high-sticking penalty by Jake Walman with 1:51 left, but Lyon held off a quick flurry before Larkin scored into an empty net for his 10th goal of the season, sealing the win at 19:14.
–Field Level Media
