Jack Quinn scored a go-ahead power-play goal early in the third period and Colten Ellis made 27 saves in his NHL debut, fueling the host Buffalo Sabres to a 4-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday.
Quinn added two assists to highlight his career high-tying three-point performance for the Sabres, who have won three of their last four games after an 0-3 start.
Buffalo’s Tyson Kozak scored a goal in his second consecutive contest, Josh Doan added his third goal in three games and Jason Zucker also tallied before exiting the game with an upper-body injury.
Detroit’s Emmitt Finnie scored his third goal in two games, J.T. Compher also tallied and captain Dylan Larkin notched an assist to extend his season-opening point streak to seven games.
John Gibson turned aside 27 shots for the Red Wings, who saw their five-game winning streak come to a halt. The loss was Detroit’s first since a season-opening 5-1 setback to the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 9.
Quinn unleashed a blast from above the faceoff circles that beat a screened Gibson to give Buffalo a 3-2 lead at 4:15 of the third period.
Doan doubled the advantage just under four minutes later with a blast from the left circle.
The Red Wings scored first for the sixth time in seven games after Compher tucked the puck past Ellis exactly three minutes into the second period.
Zucker capped a pretty passing sequence with Quinn by scoring from the doorstep to forge a 1-1 tie at 11:37 of the second period. The goal was Zucker’s team-leading fourth of the season.
Kozak tapped home a nifty feed from Quinn to give Buffalo a 2-1 lead with 3:32 remaining in the second period.
Finnie answered under two minutes later after converting Larkin’s backhanded centering feed.
