BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Detroit Red Wings were in need of a confidence boost as they finished up their first big road trip of the season.
They earned it, with rookie Moritz Seider scoring his first NHL goal in overtime to secure a 4-3 victory against the the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday at KeyBank Center.
Tyler Bertuzzi scored two huge goals in the third period to tie things up, as the Wings nipped a four-game winless streak and improved to 5-5-2.
Pius Suter scored his second goal of the season, but the Sabres rallied to take the lead with goals from Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin and Arttu Ruotsalainen.
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Bertuzzi scored his goals 1:30 apart in the third period and assisted on Seider’s goal. Suter picked up his second point on Bertuzzi’s second goal. Rookie Lucas Raymond assisted on all three regulation goals as the Wings played a third straight game without Dylan Larkin, who has been away for personal reasons.
The Wings play for the third time in four days Sunday when they host the Vegas Golden Knights.
Raymond keeps rolling
Raymond’s assists put him 13 points in 12 games. The 19-year-old was selected No. 4 overall in 2020. Jeff Blashill has made a point with the rookies of saying it’s an everyday league, and Raymond has proven he belongs with one performance after another. He has points in seven games, three multi-point games and has not gone more than a two-game stretch without a point.
Playing with the lead
The Wings played catchup hockey the previous five games, surrendering the first goal amid repeated slow starts. Not so in Buffalo: Suter won the opening draw against Dylan Cozens. Raymond jammed a shot on net that Dustin Tokarski stopped. Suter was at the crease and able to get his stick on the puck, giving the Wings a lead 16 seconds after puck drop.
Penalty killing problems
The Wings were burned on three penalty kills Thursday at Boston, with Patrice Bergeron breaking out of a slump to score his first — and second and third — goal of the season during the Bruins’ man advantages. The Wings killed off a first-period penalty to Robby Fabbri, but gave up a goal when Joe Veleno was off for holding midway through the second period. Dahlin, the No. 1 overall pick in 2018, lifted a shot from the blue line to earn his first goal of the season.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her book, The Big 50: The Detroit Red Wings is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.