Christian Fischer dropped to his knees in the second period, playing a pivotal role in the Detroit Red Wings’ effort to end their seven-game losing streak. It wasn’t a moment of prayer, though.
Despite stumbling, Fischer managed to twist his body and shoot the puck past Buffalo goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. This goal leveled the game at 1-1 and appeared to reignite the Red Wings’ competitive spirit, leading to a 4-1 victory that propelled them back into an Eastern Conference wild card spot.
“Obviously a much-needed win and I just love the way we did it,” commented Detroit coach Derek Lalonde.
The victory has brought the Red Wings’ point total to 74, putting them one point ahead of the New York Islanders. The Sabres, on the other hand, are now five points behind Detroit. Lalonde’s team is set to face the Penguins in Pittsburgh on Sunday, which will be another crucial game in the playoff race.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1769057105770614877
Reimer’s Standout Performance
In their previous seven losses, the Red Wings had not managed to limit their opponents to fewer than four goals, but James Reimer changed that by allowing only one goal on 26 shots from the Sabres. This was a significant improvement from their previous game, where the Sabres defeated the Red Wings 7-3.
“We really played a complete game, start to finish,” remarked Fischer. “Not too many lapses in the D-zone… We just felt a different compete level, kind of back to our old ways.”
Fischer, along with linemates Michael Rasmussen and Andrew Copp, effectively neutralized Buffalo’s top line of Zemgus Girgensons, Tage Thompson, and Alex Tuch during even-strength play.
“The guys love Christian,” praised Lalonde. “He plays the right way. Their job was not to get scored on, and for them to get a goal the way they did with second effort, zone time, below the goal line battle, very uplifting.”
Patrick Kane scored his 14th goal of the season with 2:20 remaining in the second period, giving the Red Wings a 2-1 lead. J.T. Compher’s assist set up the goal by sliding the puck across the slot to Kane, resembling a shuffleboard move. This marked the first time the Detroit team had led a game since March 6, a span of 280 minutes and 34 seconds over five games.
“I think once we got up 2-1, we knew we were going to win that game,” Fischer said. “Just on how we felt and everybody working.”
When asked if his goal went as planned, Fischer chuckled. “Yeah, I meant to do that for sure,” he joked before admitting, “Just a bad skater, I don’t think he even tripped me. It was obviously a big goal for our team at the time and with me, Copp, and Ras, that’s our type of goal, to the net, cycles, that type of stuff.”
This game felt significant due to its playoff implications, and tomorrow’s game against the Penguins will be equally important.
The Red Wings played Saturday with renewed confidence.
“You saw every guy having that second and third effort, whether it’s a turnover, a good play, or a bad play. You saw every single guy competing like our lives are on the line,” Fischer noted.
“That goes a long way when you see Kaner and (Alex DeBrincat out there throwing some hits around. Second and third sticks in the D-zone. Second efforts to get pucks out. Diving saves, big saves on the PK, block shots.
I could go down the list of the little things that mean so much to the group. You feed off each other. We felt it in that room, in between the second and third, not too much needed to be said. We just needed to keep doing what we were doing. That type of feeling is what we had in January and February when we were rolling.”
