Gustavsson, Red Wings beat Sabres 3-1

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BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Detroit Red Wings put Jonas Gustavsson in a tough spot, and the backup
goaltender bailed them out.Gustavsson made 21 saves, including a stop on Steve Ott’s penalty shot, and the
Red Wings sent the Buffalo Sabres to their fourth straight loss, 3-1 on Sunday.Tied at 1 with 9:39 gone in
the second period, Niklas Kronwall hooked Ott on a breakaway and Buffalo was awarded a penalty shot.The
Sabres captain went left, and Gustavsson stayed with him.“I didn’t actually think he was going to go that
way because that’s the way he went when he had the first opportunity, but he did,” Gustavsson said. “I tried
to be patient and follow him and lucky enough, he didn’t score.”Johan Franzen, Daniel Alfredsson and Darren
Helm scored for the Red Wings. Henrik Zetterberg had an assist for his 700th career point.Cody Hodgson
scored Buffalo’s goal. The Sabres are winless since a victory in interim coach Ted Nolan’s first game on
Nov. 15.The Red Wings were playing their third game in four nights but appeared the fresher team against the
struggling Sabres.“We decided to play a really solid game tonight,” Franzen said. “We talked about being
patient, not giving up too many chances for the other team. I think we stuck to the plan pretty good and
finally managed to get the win.”Gustavsson was a difference maker, with several key stops on Buffalo’s two
third-period power plays, including a save on Drew Stafford’s between-the-legs effort.“He’s a gamer,”
Franzen said. “He battles like crazy out there. He can really play the puck and read the play so we’ve got a
lot of confidence in him.”Detroit improved to 7-3-1 on the road. Buffalo has lost 11 of 13 home games.Ryan
Miller made 32 saves for the Sabres. He is 2-8-2 against Detroit in his career.“We can’t just get by and
feel like 1-1 is good,” he said. “We have to go for it at home, especially with a team playing three in four
nights.”The Sabres took a 1-0 lead 11:58 into the game on a highlight-reel goal from Hodgson. Stafford
intercepted a clearing attempt and passed in the slot to Hodgson, who forced Gustavsson out of the crease
goal and then, with his body behind the goal line, used his backhand to tuck the puck into the net.Detroit
controlled play for most of the first period but Miller made 14 saves, including a left pad save on Joakim
Andersson in the closing seconds, to maintain the Sabres’ lead.“He’s really good,” Detroit coach Mike
Babcock said. “Him and (Boston goalie Tuukka Rask) to me are two of the best skating goalies in the league.
They look like they put no effort into it. They’re just always in the right place. I thought he made some
really good saves.”It took less than a minute of second period play for Detroit to tie it. Alfredsson found
Darren Helm in the slot, and Helm spun away from Tyler Ennis to lift a backhand past Miller.“I knew there
was someone on my back there,” said Helm, who’s scored in three consecutive games. “I just tried to get into
the middle and get a shot off. I kind of surprised myself.”The go-ahead goal came on a power play when
Franzen’s shot deflected off Sabres defenseman Alexander Sulzer and past Miller. Zetterberg assisted on the
tally and improved his point total to 28, good for second in the NHL.Alfredsson scored an empty-net goal to
clinch the win.It was the sixth game pitting Ryan Miller against his younger brother Drew, who is 5-1
against his older sibling.“He played really well,” Drew Miller said. “A close win for us where he plays well
but we still wins is kind of a bonus for me.”NOTES: The Sabres wore their gold alternate jerseys for the
first of 10 scheduled games this season… Detroit RW Todd Bertuzzi missed his second game with an upper
body injury. … The Red Wings were without Pavel Datsyuk, who is recovering from a concussion after an
elbow from Jared Cowen on Saturday night in Detroit. He will be out indefinitely.

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