RECAP: Cossa's NHL debut part of Red Wings' 'massive' 6-5 shootout win over Sabres

BUFFALO -- The adrenaline was still pumping for goalie prospect Sebastian Cossa as he answered questions from the media in the visiting dressing room at KeyBank Center following the Detroit Red Wings’ 6-5 shootout win over the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night.

Completely understandable, considering Cossa made 12 saves in relief of goalie Ville Husso before denying two shootout attempts against Buffalo (11-13-4; 26 points) to earn his first career victory in his NHL debut for Detroit (11-13-4; 26 points).

“It’s pretty cool,” said Cossa, who became the first netminder in NHL history to win his debut via shootout in a relief effort. “I don’t think I could have pictured it a better way. Obviously, really excited. It’s probably not going to settle for a little while. Don’t know how much sleep I’m going to be getting tonight, but a really cool moment.”

Monday’s result also snapped a season-long five-game winless streak for the Red Wings, who got their first multi-goal, third-period comeback victory of the season.

“We needed one to go our way,” Detroit head coach Derek Lalonde said. “What’s ironic is that was probably one of our more sloppy games since we got back from the West Coast. If you look from the West Coast on prior to this, we played some pretty good hockey. A little sloppy tonight, but we produced some offense. Give a lot of credit to the guys to hang in there.”

The Red Wings and Sabres combined for five goals, three lead changes and 16 total shots in the first period, which ended in a 3-2 lead for Buffalo.

Finding the back of the night on its first shot of the night, Buffalo made it 1-0 when Zach Benson took a pass from Dylan Cozens and beat Husso short side at 1:38 of the first period.

Detroit got its offense going just a few minutes later, getting back-to-back goals from Alex DeBrincat and Andrew Copp just 41 seconds apart to grab a 2-1 lead. It was the third time this season that the Red Wings lit the lamp twice within a minute, previously doing so in a 25-second span on Oct. 24 and in a 35-second span just five days prior (Oct. 19).

DeBrincat scored his 12th goal of the season at 4:05 of the first period, collecting a feed from captain Dylan Larkin near the boards before he cut to the crease and put a backhand past Buffalo netminder James Reimer to tie it 1-1.

Then at 4:46, Copp put the finishing touch on a nice tic-tac-toe passing play by scoring from up close to make it 2-1. J.T. Compher and Mortiz Seider got the assists on Copp’s sixth goal of the season.

Swinging momentum right back to the Sabres before the opening frame concluded, Tage Thompson finished Jason Zucker’s pass on the rush at 10:25 to even it up at 2-2. A goal from Zucker, his first of the night, during a delayed penalty at 15:26 pushed the hosts back in front 3-2.

Husso finished with four saves in the opening frame, then Cossa took his place in the crease to kick off the second period.

"I thought it would be a little unfair on Coss to do it with four minutes left," Lalonde said about switching out goalies. "So I wanted to get to the end of the [first] period. It was a pretty easy decision."

Lucas Raymond tied it 3-3 at 1:05 of the second period, blasting Larkin’s pass from the right face-off circle past Reimer for his 11th goal of the season. Eric Gustafsson recorded the secondary assist.

After Nicolas Aube-Kubel finished a rebound to make it 4-3 at 2:26 of the middle frame, Zucker extended it to 5-3 with his second tally at 9:46. He skated across the front of the crease and tucked the puck past Cossa.

Copp scored his second of the game at 10:27 of the third period, finding a rebound in front and sending it in to bring Detroit within 5-4. Assisted by Compher and Seider, Copp recorded his seventh goal of the season and second multi-goal game of the campaign.

Netting the equalizer for the Red Wings a little over four minutes later, Seider got a pass from Raymond then snapped home a shot from the right face-off circle to make it 5-5 at 15:42 of the third period. Simon Edvinsson collected the secondary assist on Seider's third goal of the season, giving the Swedish defenseman three assists in his last four games.

Lalonde said secondary scoring played a big role in the eventual win.

"I thought we could get some offense tonight," Lalonde said. "Some of the things we've worked on and preached, but the guys had to go out and execute. We got some balanced scoring throughout."

The 5-5 score remained throughout regulation and overtime. Raymond and Larkin scored in the shootout, helping Detroit pocket the extra point. After Larkin netted the deciding tally, the Red Wings captain quickly scooped up the puck as a keepsake for Cossa.

“It was a massive win for us,” Larkin said. “Great for Coss. I thought great for J.T. and Copper to play that way. I thought Marco, Kaner and Ras did really well. It was good for our hockey team to score some goals, to be down and come back and win like that.”

NEXT UP: Detroit will look to carry this momentum into its matchup against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Thursday night.

POSTGAME QUOTES

Cossa on what he will say to his family postgame

“I know they’re at home right now, probably sweating and pacing around right now. Obviously, going to be my first call. A really special moment for me and my family tonight for sure.”

Cossa on the difficulty level of entering a game in relief

“It’s tough, kind of cold a little bit physically. But mentally, just trying to focus on the game. Obviously, being on the bench there in the game helps for sure. I was just really focused on that first shot and you know, kind of battle from there.”

Seider on the importance of Monday’s win

“Really needed. Obviously, a lot of highs and lows in the game. We were always in the battle and came out with a great win. Obviously, a great kill in the end there.”

Larkin on this tough stretch

“It’s been really tough, but guys know that they want to produce and help the team more. I think you saw it tonight. A great team win, and that’s something we needed in the worst way. We were desperate for it. We didn’t give up for it.”