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Sabres hand Red Wings their fifth straight loss

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Benoit Pouliot's wraparound goal beat Jimmy Howard as Robin Lehner kept Detroit out of the net to lift the Sabres over the Red Wings 1-0.

Make that back-to-back wins for the Buffalo Sabres. A high-scoring comeback from three goals down, however, was not necessary this time.

Facing the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday, the Sabres didn’t get plenty of scoring.

They didn’t need it this time, with Benoit Pouliot scoring the lone goal and the eventual winner midway through the second period. Robin Lehner stopped all 32 shots he faced for the shutout, as Buffalo held on to win 1-0.

It’s a small step forward for a team that had a listless effort at home against the Canucks last Friday and had only one victory through its first eight games of the new season, prompting star forward Jack Eichel to sound his displeasure with the Sabres’ losing ways, which have become far too constant, even before he showed up as the No. 2 overall draft selection in 2015.

Now, making it three wins in a row will prove a difficult feat, as the Sabres travel to Columbus to face the Blue Jackets tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the Red Wings are less than two weeks removed from their hot start (four wins in five games) to the season, a reminder that things can change quickly for some teams in the NHL once the chaos of the first few games begins to subside.

Detroit’s losing streak now stands at five games. They have scored only once over the past two games, and the risk of losing a sixth straight game is real as they travel to Tampa Bay to meet the red-hot Lightning on Thursday.

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Cam Tucker is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @CamTucker_Sport.