DETROIT (AP) — Lucas Raymond, Patrick Kane and Dylan Larkin all scored in the first period and Alex Lyon made 37 saves and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-1 on Sunday.
The win gives Detroit 84 points, moving them past idle Pittsburgh and Philadelphia into the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Washington Capitals blowing another late lead and losing in overtime to Ottawa kept the Red Wings in the top eight in the East.
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DETROIT (AP) — Lucas Raymond, Patrick Kane and Dylan Larkin all scored in the first period and Alex Lyon made 37 saves and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-1 on Sunday.
Detroit Red Wings right wing Patrick Kane (88) skates with the puck as Buffalo Sabres' Owen Power (25) defends with goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (1) in the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin (71) looks to pass as Buffalo Sabres right wing Lukas Rousek (13) defends in the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (1) stops a Detroit Red Wings right wing Alex DeBrincat (93) shot as Rasmus Dahlin (26) defends in the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin (71) celebrates his goal against the Buffalo Sabres in the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
“That’s points in four of our last six games. That’s victories in two of our last three,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. “We’re slowly gobbling up some points, keeping ourselves in the fight. We’ve been getting some help around the league, but it comes to a point where we got to take care of ourselves and we did that today.”
Raymond opened the scoring 53 seconds into the game as he scored his 26th of the season. In 12 games against the Sabres, he has five goals and 10 assists.
“It feels good to get a win,” Raymond said. “Obviously maybe not our best game, but we found a way to get it done. Alex played great back in net. Big win.”
Detroit won three of four games against Buffalo this season.
“It (stinks),” Sabres forward Alex Tuch said of losing two in a row to the Red Wings late in the season. “Plain and simple. There’s no sugarcoating it.”
Kane beat Buffalo defenders Bowen Byram and Henri Jokiharju and tucked the puck past goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen at 4:24, for his 19th of the season. He has 14 goals and 16 assists in 28 games against his hometown Sabres.
Larkin scored his 31st of the season on a power play at 7:37. Raymond had the primary assist. It's the 40th multi-point game of Raymond's career.
“Raymond has been unbelievable,” Lalonde said. “You could see Raymond building. The two years I’ve been here you could see the whole package building and now he’s driving us in these big games.”
Lyon, who stopped all 17 shots he faced in the third period, earned his 20th victory.
“To be honest with you, it’s largely a team stat, wins, to some degree,” Lyon said. “I just think that it’s like any goalie stat. Just appreciative of the guys. Just gotta keep battling. We’ve got five games left here, so I think that’s kind of where all of our minds are.”
Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider had 10 of his team’s 27 blocked shots.
“I really, genuinely appreciate it,” Lyon said. “I understand how to block shots with a whole host of gear. It hurts for those guys. It does. And Mo always has multiple ice bags on after every game. I give him a lot of credit. He’s fearless, along with all the other guys. It really resonates with our team a lot and I think it makes us better.”
Tage Thompson scored his 29th of the season on the power play at 13:16 of the first, extending his goal streak to a season-best three games. Luukkonen had 21 saves for the Sabres.
“It’s tough, because you build a game plan and then they get one and we let it turn into two and into three,” Thompson said. “Now we’re in a hole, and it is tough when you are behind and trying to chase your way back into the game.”
UP NEXT
Sabres: visit the Stars on Tuesday.
Red Wings: host the Capitals on Tuesday.
AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
Detroit Red Wings goaltender Alex Lyon (34) stops a Buffalo Sabres left wing Jeff Skinner (53) shot as Jeff Petry (46) defends in the second third of an NHL hockey game Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Detroit Red Wings right wing Patrick Kane (88) skates with the puck as Buffalo Sabres' Owen Power (25) defends with goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (1) in the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin (71) looks to pass as Buffalo Sabres right wing Lukas Rousek (13) defends in the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (1) stops a Detroit Red Wings right wing Alex DeBrincat (93) shot as Rasmus Dahlin (26) defends in the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin (71) celebrates his goal against the Buffalo Sabres in the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
DENVER (AP) — Matt Duchene scored at 11:42 of the second overtime after being involved in a play that led to a goal disallowed for goaltender interference in the first extra period, and the Dallas Stars advanced to the Western Conference final with a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche in Game 6 on Friday night.
Duchene, a 2009 draft pick of the Avalanche, secured a loose puck in front of the net and sent it over a sprawled out Alexandar Georgiev. Duchene took off down the ice and slid on his knees in celebration.
“(The puck) just popped out to me, and shot it in and then blacked out pretty much,” Duchene said after the game. “I was so tired, I started skating and then I got tired. I don’t even know what I did after that, to be honest with you. I was pretty pumped up.”
In the locker room after the game, the Stars celebrated by blaring an almost fitting tune — “Rocky Mountain High” by John Denver.
Dallas advances to face either Edmonton or Vancouver next. It’s the second straight trip to the conference final for the Stars, who lost last season to eventual Stanley Cup champion Vegas. The Stars won their only Stanley Cup title in 1999.
“The dream's still alive,” Stars forward Joe Pavelski said.
Jamie Benn tied the game at 1:56 of the third period.
Mason Marchment thought he scored the winner with 7:29 left in the first overtime but it was waved off for goaltender interference. The play was reviewed and the call on the ice stood. Duchene was jostling with Cale Makar in front of Georgiev, leading to a call. The NHL’s situation room explained that Duchene impaired Georgiev’s ability to play his position in the crease.
“The explanation that I got was Dutchie’s (bottom) was over the line. His feet were outside but his (bottom) was over the line,” Marchment explained. “I think honestly, they didn’t want to make it a deciding goal. ... At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter. We got the job done. It’s awesome.”
Jake Oettinger was stellar all night in making 29 saves. One of his biggest was a close-range shot from Artturi Lehkonen down low midway through the second OT.
“He was fabulous,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said of his goaltender.
This was a series in which the road team won five of six games, including the Stars taking all three in Denver. The Avalanche were the top home team in the regular season, while the Stars had the best road record.
Dallas joins Florida and the New York Rangers as teams that closed out a second-round series in six games. It’s just the third postseason to have three Round 2 matchups decided in six games (1999 and 2004).
It was a difficult end to what was a tumultuous postseason for Colorado, with Valeri Nichushkin suspended before Game 4 for violating terms of the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program.
“A devastating result,” Makar said of the Game 6 loss. “The year being where we all feel like we have a team that with all of our pieces can make a push for the whole thing.”
Colorado scored the opening goal of the game for the first time in the series when Mikko Rantanen sent a wrist shot over Oettinger early in the second period on a power play.
Makar had an assist to give him 80 career playoff points in 72 games played. He’s the fifth defenseman in NHL history to amass 80 career postseason points in 80 or fewer games, joining Bobby Orr (66 games), Paul Coffey (67), Brian Leetch (70) and Al MacInnis (71).
Both team were missing forwards, with Roope Hintz out for Dallas and Yakov Trenin for Colorado.
“We fought hard,” said Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon, a Hart Trophy finalist who had four goals and 10 assists in the postseason run. “The effort was there the whole season.”
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Colorado Avalanche center Casey Mittelstadt, left, pushes Dallas Stars center Matt Duchene, center, against Colorado goaltender Alexandar Georgiev during the second period of Game 6 of an NHL hockey playoff series Friday, May 17, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Dallas Stars center Matt Duchene, left, has his shot blocked by Colorado Avalanche goaltender Alexandar Georgiev during the first overtime of Game 6 of an NHL hockey playoff series Friday, May 17, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Avalanche left wing Jonathan Drouin, left, and Dallas Stars left wing Jamie Benn reach for the puck during the second period of Game 6 of an NHL hockey playoff series Friday, May 17, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Dallas Stars left wings Jamie Benn, left, and Jason Robertson warm up before Game 6 of the team's NHL hockey playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche on Friday, May 17, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski
Colorado Avalanche right wing Mikko Rantanen, center, works for position in front of the net against Dallas Stars defenseman Esa Lindell, right, as goaltender Jake Oettinger stops a shot during the second period of Game 6 of an NHL hockey playoff series Friday, May 17, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Avalanche left wing Artturi Lehkonen, left, congratulates right wing Mikko Rantanen for a goal against the Dallas Stars during the second period of Game 6 of an NHL hockey playoff series Friday, May 17, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Dallas Stars defenseman Thomas Harley, left, tries to knock the puck away from Colorado Avalanche right wing Brandon Duhaime during the first period of Game 6 of an NHL hockey playoff series Friday, May 17, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Avalanche center Andrew Cogliano stumbles next to Dallas Stars center Craig Smith during the first period of Game 6 of an NHL hockey playoff series Friday, May 17, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger makes a glove save against the Colorado Avalanche during the first period of Game 6 of an NHL hockey playoff series Friday, May 17, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Avalanche right wing Mikko Rantanen, right, is congratulated for a goal against the Dallas Stars during the second period of Game 6 of an NHL hockey playoff series Friday, May 17, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Dallas Stars center Matt Duchene, front, pursues the puck, in front of Colorado Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews during the second period of Game 6 of an NHL hockey playoff series Friday, May 17, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
