They still only scored one goal, but in this case, one was enough for the Detroit Red Wings, who eked out a 2-1 shootout win Wednesday over the Sabres in Buffalo to halt their four-game losing skid.
“We can take the positive out of it,… goaltender Jimmy Howard said. “We found a way to get two points. Just coming in here after, in the room, the feeling was like a lot of weight was lifted off your shoulders. It feels good going into Thanksgiving.
“Now we’ve got to use that momentum and carry it over into New Jersey (on Friday).…
As much as it was a win, and in a sense a sigh of relief for a team that is now 3-9-1 in their last 12 games, the Wings weren’t about to suggest all that ails them was suddenly fixed.
They still only scored once in regulation and turnovers were again an issue, especially in the first period.
“Yeah we’ve still got tons to work on for sure,… said Gus Nyquist, Detroit’s goal scorer. “We got better I thought as the game went on with that (turning the puck over) but we’ve still got work to do for sure to be the team we want to.…
After starting the season 0-2, the Wings did get on a roll and win six in a row but their goal at the moment is to find a balance, a consistency in their play. Riding a roller coaster of ups and downs isn’t going to get them anywhere, and the time to fix what ails them is immediately.
“We’ve got to realize where we put ourselves,… center Frans Nielsen said. “The good thing is it’s still early but it has to stop now. We’ve got to stop the bleeding. We know we can put a streak together. We’ve done it before this year.
“There’s definitely some stuff we can lean on there but we dug ourselves a hole. We’ve got to realize we’ve got to start playing here soon or it’s going to be too late.
“You can say everyone goes through ups and downs but it’s just been too long for us now. We can’t afford one of those anymore during the year, so pretty much from now on and to the end we’ve got to be solid.…
Ending Another Drought Nyquist’s goal, on a sweet feed from former Sabre Thomas Vanek, ended a road scoreless drought for the Wings, who’d been shutout in their two previous away games at Washington and Montreal.
“It was pretty,… Nyquist said. “That was a great goal but we’ve got to find a way to get more than one.…
Vanek, who also scored the shootout winner, was delighted to get the better of his old team; especially after the Buffalo fans booed him.
“Once they booed me, I figured I have to show them the move they’ve seen before,… Vanek said. “Obviously I wanted to score for our team but once that happened, I wanted to score even more.…
Despite the harsh treatment, Vanek had nothing but good to say about Buffalo.
“It’s part of the game,… he said. “It’s kind of fun. I have no bad memories here.
“Again, I’ve said it many times, I’ve been here now, this place is close to my heart. I raised all my boys here so again, I love it here so no bad feelings at all.…
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