Lucas Raymond, Patrick Kane and Dylan Larkin all scored in the first eight minutes of play in the first period and the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Buffalo Sabers 3-1 on Sunday.
Raymond opened the scoring after just 53 seconds of play and the Michigan team never looked back.
This victory allows the Wings to overtake the Pittsburgh Penguins in last place giving access to the playoffs in the East. Detroit has one more point than Pittsburgh with five games remaining.
Alex Lyon stopped 37 pucks in this victory. The Red Wings now have 84 points, moving them into second place among drafted teams in the Eastern Conference heading into National Hockey League night games.
Tage Thompson was the lone scorer for the Sabres. He scored his 29th goal of the season on a power play in the second half of the first period. He has scored a goal in his last three games.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 21 saves in goal for the Sabres, who have lost three of their four games against the Red Wings this season.
Jesper Wallstedt shuts out Bedard in his first match
Kirill Kaprizov had two goals and an assist, rookie goaltender Jesper Wallstedt recorded his first NHL shutout and the Minnesota Wild blanked the Chicago Blackhawks 4-0.
Wallstedt, who allowed seven goals on 34 shots in his NHL debut against the Dallas Stars on Jan. 10, stopped 24 pucks to earn the shutout in his first return to the Wild net. The Blackhawks were shut out for a 13th time this season, a Bettman league record.
The victory allowed the Wild to maintain a slim hope of participating in the playoffs. The team holds 83 points with five games remaining, but the Vegas Golden Knights and Nashville Predators, who find themselves in the last two playoff spots in the Western Conference, both had 92 points.
The Wild scored three goals in the second period. Kaprizov began the offensive push by threading the needle on the power play to reach the 40-goal plateau for a third straight season.
Marco Rossi beat Blackhawks goalie Arvid Soderblom and Frédérick Gaudreau added a goal about six minutes later. Kaprizov completed the score in the final third.
Wallstedt, who is a first-round pick of the Wild in 2021, has had it pretty easy in net. The most dangerous shot came from Alex Vlasic’s stick in the second period.
Soderblom finished the game with 33 saves.
