RECAP: Red Wings climb back but fall, 5-4, in shootout to Sabres

DETROIT --The Detroit Red Wings erased a late three-goal deficit to force overtime, but fell, 5-4, in a shootout to the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night at Little Caesars Arena.

Jonatan Berggren opened the scoring for the Red Wings, giving his club an early 1-0 lead just 1:20 into the first period. After the Sabres responded with four unanswered tallies through 40 minutes, David Perron's goal in the third pulled Detroit within two. Oskar Sundqvist then found the back of the net twice in a 1:50-span to force the extra frame, but Buffalo netted the lone shootout winner.
"Really proud of the guys," head coach Derek Lalonde said. "You just don't come back from three goals in this league."
Goalie Alex Nedeljkovic made 30 saves in his seventh start of the season for the Red Wings, who grabbed a point but fell to 11-6-5 (27 points) on the season. The Sabres improved to 10-12-1 (21 points) overall.
"I think we battled back in a fantastic way today," said Sundqvist, who recorded his first multi-goal game in a Winged Wheel sweater. "Unfortunately, we couldn't get it all the way."
Prior to puck drop, both clubs reflected on one year following the tragedy that took place at Oxford High School in Oxford, Mich., with a moment of silence.
NEXT UP: Detroit will close out a season-long five-game homestand when it hosts the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night at Little Caesars Arena.

SCORING SUMMARY

Detroit 1, Buffalo 0 (1:20, 1st period)
Detroit jumped out to an early lead when Berggren took a feed from Filip Hronek and converted a shot from just inside the right faceoff circle. Joe Veleno also recorded an assist on Berggren's second goal of the season.

Buffalo 1, Detroit 1 (4:53, 1st period)
Just 3:33 after Berggren scored, Dylan Cozens potted a short-handed goal to tie the game at one.
Buffalo 2, Detroit 1 (8:25, 1st period)
Mattias Samuelsson, assisted by Rasmus Dahlin, skated through the neutral zone, then scored his first career NHL goal.
Buffalo 3, Detroit 1 (8:12, 2nd period)
Cozens found twine off a shot from the slot for his second goal of the night.
Buffalo 4, Detroit 1 (10:17, 2nd period)
Tage Thompson gathered a rebound, then got the puck to Jeff Skinner behind Detroit's crease. Skinner managed to beat Nedeljkovic with a wrap-around shot on a power play.
Detroit 2, Buffalo 4 (6:51, 3rd period)
After stealing the puck from Alex Tuch, Perron's shot snuck between Sabres goaltender Craig Anderson's legs into the back of the net. Captain Dylan Larkin and Hronek were each credited with an assist on Perron's seventh goal of the season.

Detroit 3, Buffalo 4 (10:41, 3rd period)
Sundqvist's intial shot from the left faceoff circle was blocked, but Jordan Oesterle sent the loose puck off the boards to Andrew Copp. From behind Buffalo's goal line, Copp made a backwards pass to Sundqvist, whose one-timer trimmed the Red Wings' deficit to just one.

Detroit 4, Buffalo 4 (12:31, 3rd period)
Detroit tied the game when Sundqvist, assisted by Copp, got the puck off a faceoff and beat Anderson through traffic from the right faceoff circle for his second goal of the period.

Shootout
Jack Quinn's shootout goal sealed the win for the visitors.

QUOTABLE

Lalonde on what he took away from Wednesday's game
"I really thought the fight back started at the end of the second. Down 4-1, it obviously wasn't going our way and our guys just dug in. Really proud of the group."
Lalonde on the Red Wings feeding off the energy from the Little Caesars Arena crowd
"They drove us in the third. You're down, 4-1, and it's just one of those nights that it doesn't feel like it's gonna go for you. I think the crowd just gives you that little push. I think it helped immensely."
Copp on Detroit's third-period push
"We just stayed on their D a little bit more, won some battles in the O-zone and as you saw, once you do that, we create a lot of offense in the O-zone."