Another agonizing loss pushed the Detroit Red Wings further down the Eastern Conference standings.
Their losing streak has ballooned to six games, something they’ll try to pop when they host the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night.
Detroit tested Ottawa goaltender Linus Ullmark with a whopping 49 shots on goal on Monday but only got one past him. Actually, they beat him twice on the 50th shot, which came one second after the final buzzer in a 2-1 loss.
“We should have put the puck in the net a long time before that,” said forward Lucas Raymond, who had the goal that didn’t count.
“He’s a real good goalie but it’s just execution. We had tons of looks. I’d rather have 10 shots and have three goals. Just one of those (nights) and we have to move on.”
Red Wings coach Todd McLellan felt his team deserved a better fate but tried to look at the bright side.
“There are no complaints of effort, execution. We ran into a goalie that had a career night and unfortunately for us, we couldn’t find a way to beat him,” he said. “We didn’t give up much. We played a good, hard, gritty game. When you’re in (a slump), it would be nice to get a game like this and come out of it. If we play like this and continue to play like this, we’ll find ways to get wins.”
The offense has been stymied by every goalie it has encountered lately. The Red Wings have scored one or two goals in five of the six losses.
There were plenty of goals scored in the first two meetings with the Sabres this season. Tage Thompson had two goals and an assist as Buffalo collected a 5-3 victory on Oct. 26.
The second matchup also was on Buffalo’s home ice but this time Detroit prevailed in a shootout, 6-5, on Dec. 9. Andrew Copp, who is now out for the season after undergoing pectoral surgery, scored two of the Red Wings’ goals.
Buffalo ended a six-game slide of its own on Monday, topping Edmonton, 3-2. The Sabres leaned on Thompson to break the streak and he delivered two goals.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 32 saves in Buffalo’s first win since defeating Anaheim, 3-2, on Feb. 25.
“He made some big saves to keep us in it and calm us down a little bit to allow us to get to our game,” Thompson said. “I think once we did that, we were good.”
Thompson scored the game-winner at 3:20 of the third period off a feed from Josh Norris.
“Once we got going north, got into the next zone and our puck support got better, I thought we played,” coach Lindy Ruff said.
Norris was playing in his second game since being acquired by Buffalo from Ottawa. The Sabres believe Norris can be a top-line center in their lineup.
“I think that’s the player we see,” Ruff said. “The player that can play against top guys, play against top lines and still be a good offensive player.”
