Red Wings 3, Sabres 2
DETROIT -- Luke Glendening's empty-net goal with three minutes remaining turned out to be the game-winner as the Detroit Red Wings held on for a 3-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres Monday night.
Glendening's eighth goal of the season gave the Red Wings a 3-0 lead and then they had to hold on to stay tied with the Philadelphia Flyers for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Ten seconds after Glendening scored, Zemgus Girgensons tallied for Buffalo. A little over a minute later, Sam Reinhart made it a one-goal game.
Before nearly blowing the three-goal lead, Dylan Larkin and Riley Sheahan scored for Detroit (38-27-11), which also is within a point of the third-place Boston Bruins in the Atlantic Division.
Jimmy Howard made 18 saves, including three after Buffalo made it a one-goal game.
Larkin's power-play goal gave Detroit a 1-0 lead with 1:28 left in the first period. He raced to the bottom of the left circle and put the rebound of Henrik Zetterberg's shot by Johnson and inside the right goal post.
It was Larkin's 22nd goal, the most by a Red Wings rookie since Zetterberg had 22 in 2002-03.
Sheahan made it 2-0 9:05 into the second period with a spectacular effort.
He picked up the puck in the corner to Howard's left, went behind the net, stopped and started in the bottom of the opposite circle, headed up ice, weaving his way through the three zones and beat Johnson with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle.
It was Sheahan's 12th goal and third in three games.
NOTES: Detroit G Jimmy Howard, who lost the starting job to Petr Mrazek earlier in the season, started Monday. Since Feb. 12, Mrazek has a 6-6-2 record, a 3.30 goals-against average and an .888 save percentage. Howard was 3-2-1, 2.80 and .911 since mid-February. ... Buffalo was without C Tyler Ennis (upper body) and G Robin Lehner (lower body). ... Hockey Hall of Famer and Red Wings legend Gordie Howe attended the game and addressed Detroit's players before the contest. ... Sabres assistant coach Dave Barr was with the Red Wings during part of his playing career. ... D Alexey Marchenko replaced D Brendan Smith in the Red Wings' lineup. Smith was a healthy scratch.