Casey Mittelstadt gets an assist in his NHL debut for Buffalo.
By Joe Verdon / NHL.com Correspondent
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Dylan Larkin had a goal and an assist, and the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Buffalo Sabres 6-3 at KeyBank Center on Thursday.
Anthony Mantha and Evgeny Svechnikov each had a goal and an assist, and Jimmy Howard made 29 saves for the Red Wings (29-38-11), who have won two straight.
Ryan O’Reilly, Jack Eichel, and Evan Rodrigues scored for the Sabres (24-41-12), who are 1-5-0 in their past six games.
Detroit and Buffalo have each been eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention.
Larkin cut it to 2-1 at 7:41 of the first period, scoring from the right hashmarks over the blocker of Sabres goalie Robin Lehner.
Darren Helm tied it 2-2 with a shorthanded breakaway goal at 5:21 of the second period.
Mantha gave the Red Wings a 3-2 lead at 16:26 of the second period.
Lehner, who made 17 saves, was replaced by Chad Johnson at the start of the third period. Johnson made nine saves.
Andreas Athanasiou made it 4-2 at 1:50 of the third period, scoring into an open net after a Justin Abdelkader sent him a pass from between his legs.
Rodrigues cut it to 4-3 at 4:51 with a wrist shot off a face-off win by Casey Mittelstadt.
Mittelstadt, who was selected in the first round (No. 8) by the Sabres in the 2017 NHL Draft, was making his debut after signing a three-year, entry-level contract on Monday.
Danny DeKeyser gave Detroit a 5-3 lead at 10:20 of the third, and Svechnikov extended it to 6-3 at 16:59.
Eichel gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 3:16 of the first period, and O’Reilly made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 7:11.
Up next
The Sabres hit the road Saturday for a trip to Tennessee to face the Nashville Preditors at 8 pm.