Buffalo hadn’t overcome a three-goal deficit to win since coming back from four goals down to beat the Chicago Blackhawks on March 28, 2022.
“We were just desperate in the third period,” Thompson said. “We’ve been losing a lot of games, and it is frustrating, We wanted to impose our will, get them back on their heels and try to gain the momentum.”
Josh Doan and Thompson each had a goal and an assist, and Alex Tuch and Ryan McLeod scored for Buffalo (6-8-4), which was 0-4-1 during its skid and won its first road game of the season (1-5-2). Colten Ellis made 24 saves and picked up his first NHL point with a third-period assist.
Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin had two assists in his return after missing three games. He had been in Sweden to be with his fiancée as she recovers from a heart transplant.
DeBrincat scored twice, Patrick Kane scored his 495th NHL goal and Lucas Raymond had three assists for Detroit (10-7-1), which has lost four of five (1-3-1). Moritz Seider had two assists and Gibson made 22 saves.
“It goes back to [training camp], which is when we started talking about game management and learning how to play in certain situations,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said. “Clearly, we haven’t learned that lesson.”
Doan got Buffalo within 4-2 at 17:58 of the second period, deflecting Dahlin’s point shot over Gibson’s left shoulder.
“I didn’t sense a change in momentum until that goal went in,” McLellan said. “We iced the puck unnecessarily, lost a draw and the puck was in our net.”
