Detroit Red Wings fly routing Buffalo Sabres 5-0 - NHL Update
The Detroit Red Wings could not have performed any better to notch their record 15th straight home win at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan, United States, as they shutout the Buffalo Sabres to win with a comfortable 5-0 margin.
Detroit put up a performance that mesmerised a packed Joe Lewis Arena as the goals kept on flowing from the first whistle.
Red Wings were impressive in both offence and defence as goaltender, Jimmy Howard, performed impressively to keep out all 27 shots by the Sabres.
Red Wings won their third straight game to improve their home record to 18-2-1 this season, and are 29-15-1 overall as they move up to the fifth spot in the Western Conference.
It was too much to expect from Buffalo Sabres to put up even a hint of competition as they lost their second straight game.
The Sabres are one of the worst teams on the road, with an 8-12-0 record while losing nine straight games away from home, making this encounter a mismatch of epic proportions.
The game also pitted two brothers against each other.
Sabres' goaltender, Ryan Miller, and Red Wings' forward, Drew Miller, were on opposite sides.
Buffalo’s goaltender faced a nightmarish night in front of the net and was pulled after Red Wings beat him for the fifth time in a goal his brother helped setup.
"It's embarrassing", Ryan Miller said.
"I got family and friends and everybody coming to watch Drew and I play. They watched Drew perform”.
Drew Miller was supportive of his brother’s poor night and praised his abilities in front of goal.
"It's tough -- I never want to see him get pulled like that", Drew Miller said. "He didn't have a chance on that goal or a couple others, but he's still one of the best goalies in the league".
The Red Wings were on song from the start as they racked up a three goal lead in the first period.
At 5:20 on the dial, Henrik Zetterberg started the goal fest as he beat Miller to put the Red Wings 1-0 up.
The Sabres had no response as their opponents continued to mount the pressure and fell further behind at 18:11, when Johan Franzen scored to double his team’s advantage and Nicklas Lidstrom was on hand a minute later to make it 3-0.
The Red Wings were not going to rest after their first period performance and scored twice in a space of 20 seconds in the second period to complete the route.
Todd Bertuzzi scored at 4:19 with Pavel Datsyuk on the assist. Darren Helm put the game to bed at 4:32 as Drew Miller sent a wonderful pass towards Helm who made no mistake in beating his assister’s brother.
Ryan Miller was pulled by the Sabres as Jhonas Enroth came on for the final period, but the Red Wings were content to just pass out the time and take a well deserved victory.
Buffalo Sabres face another tough match against Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday, while Detroit Red Wings will look to do something about their poor away record when they visit the Dallas Stars the same day.
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