Red Wings stay in playoff race with hot start, 'big win' over Sabres

Detroit — The Red Wings needed a victory Sunday to stay firmly in the playoff chase and they made sure quickly they would.

Lucas Raymond (26th, 53 seconds), Patrick Kane (19th, 4 minutes, 24 seconds) and Dylan Larkin (power play, 31st, 7:37) scored first-period goals before Buffalo awoke, as the Wings skated to a 3-1 victory.

BOX SCORE: Red Wings 3, Sabres 1

Goaltender Alex Lyon stopped 37 shots as the Wings (38-31-8, 84 points) momentarily moved into the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot after Washington lost in overtime to Ottawa later Sunday.

The Wings have 84 points. Pittsburgh, Washington and Philadelphia all have 83 points.

"It feels good to get a win," said Raymond, who added an assist and continued a high level of play. "Maybe not our best game, but we found a way to get it done. Alex was big net. It was a big win."

The start, something that plagued the Wings during a swan dive in the standings a few weeks ago, was as good as the Wings have had recently.

"We struggled with our starts a couple weeks ago, but we kind of cleaned that up," Raymond said. "You always benefit when you can come out like that. The first period was good, especially the first 10 minutes, then we kind of dropped off a bit. But a strong performance, and nice to get out of there with a win."

Lyon had to be sharp in the third period with the Sabres (37-36-5, 79 points) pressing, but Buffalo couldn't draw closer.

"When you get a good start like that you want to reward the guys," Lyon said. "It gives you confidence, too, so I give a lot of credit to the guys. We did a good job of locking it down."

More:Alex Lyon living in moment during Red Wings' playoff push

The Wings took the first of this three-game stretch against teams right there with them in this race. The Wings face Washington on Tuesday, then travel Thursday to Pittsburgh. It's a huge opportunity for the Wings to lay claim to a playoff spot, but Lyon, who was in a similar late-season push last season in Florida, feels it's important to not look ahead.

"It's imperative we take it a day at a time," Lyon said. "Honestly, I didn't even know we had the Capitals and Penguins coming up. I knew we had important games. But living in the moment and staying day by day is absolutely crucial this time of year, and remaining calm in crucial situations.

"You really can't think too far into the future and worry about the past. We have enjoy this because it's important part of the process here and tomorrow we have to try to get better and move forward."

Raymond got the Wings going quickly. Raymond intercepted a pass near the blue line, coasted into the zone, and using Buffalo's Owen Power as a screen, blasted as a shot past goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

The Wings jumped on the Sabres after Raymond's goal. A sloppy Buffalo line change led to Kane gathering a loose puck, splitting the Sabres defense, and tucking a puck behind Luukkonen, setting off the Little Caesars Arena crowd.

Buffalo was reeling, and the Wings weren't done. Larkin snapped a shot from the slot, on the power play, giving the Wings a 3-0 lead.

"I felt it at practice (Saturday), as tough as the (New York) Rangers loss was (Friday), our energy in practice and around the rink was good and I felt we'd have a good start and the guys went out and did it," coach Derek Lalonde said. "It was a good sign from the group."

Buffalo regained some momentum on Tage Thompson's power-play goal, his 29th, at 13:16 of the first period. But even though the Sabres did a good job carrying the play the final 40 minutes, Lyon was there to make key saves and the Wings blocked an astounding 27 shots to keep the Sabres at arm's length.

Now, it's another crucial game Tuesday against Washington for the Wings, who are doing everything they can to squeeze into the playoffs.

"We've been staying in the battle," Lalonde said. "That's points in four of our last six games, victories in two of our last three, and we're slowly gobbling some points and keeping us in the fight. We've been getting some help around the league, but there's a point where we have to take care of ourselves.

"We did that today."

tkulfan@detroitnews.com

@tkulfan