Casey Mittelstadt, Kyle Okposo score power-play goals, Buffalo Sabres win for just 4th time in 11 games by beating Detroit Red Wings 3-1.
A day after the Sabres clarified several comments made off the ice, coach Phil Housley was impressed watching his team clean up its various mistakes and deficiencies on it.
The power-play got goals from Casey Mittelstadt and Kyle Okposo, goalie Linus Ullmark didn’t have to resort to acrobatics in stopping 28 shots behind a tighter-checking defense, and Buffalo beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-1 on Saturday.
“I think they refocused, but that’s the thing for me is that’s a tight group in there,” Housley said. “I think it just brought us tighter together, the things that went on.”
Housley was referring to himself and forward Sam Reinhart spending Friday clarifying eye-opening comments each made following a 6-5 overtime loss to Carolina.
Reinhart personally and publicly apologized to Ullmark and fellow goalie Carter Hutton, after saying he misspoke in saying “we need more from our goalies.” What Reinhart said he meant to say is the team needs to do more for its goalies.
Housley clarified what some interpreted as him questioning general manager Jason Botterill, when asked to evaluate this group of defensemen.
There was little to complain about against Detroit.
The Sabres won for just the fourth time in 11 games (4-6-1) and improved to 10-14-5 since a 10-game winning streak in November briefly vaulted them into first place in the Eastern Conference standings.
