BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) Dylan Larkin scored twice as the Detroit Red Wings raced to an early lead and held on to defeat the Buffalo Sabres 5-3 on Tuesday night.

The Red Wings jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but had to hold off a late Sabres comeback try. Buffalo scored three unanswered goals but was unable to complete the comeback.

Robby Fabbri, Moritz Seider and Michael Rasmussen also scored for the Red Wings, who won their third straight game and for the sixth time in seven games. Alex Lyon made 29 saves.

“When things go sideways, we’ve got a good foundation of character and guys that can kind of calm it down,” Larkin said. “It’s just a good feeling. Winning’s contagious and when you start to feel good, you get used to those situations. It was a little closer than we wanted, but two points is two points in this league.”

Detroit controlled play throughout most of the game, creating a flurry of chances in the offensive end before Buffalo’s late charge. Detroit had several breakaways and partial breakaways.

“I think it’s been a pretty good focus for a while now, a pretty good stretch for the most part,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “I like a lot of what we’re doing.”

Rasmus Dahlin, Casey Mittelstadt and Jeff Skinner scored for Buffalo. Mike Comrie made 22 saves as the Sabres lost their fourth straight.

“We’re having trouble starting games on time and it bit us again,” Sabres captain Kyle Okposo said. “When we got down, we were trying to find any sign of life, and we get one there in the second and you battle back and you’re finally in the game. But we just shot ourselves in the foot too much too early.”

Dylan Cozens nearly tied the game with 1:09 remaining, but his shot was blocked in front of the Detroit net.

Larkin scored into an empty net with 46 seconds remaining, adding an insurance that thwarted Buffalo’s comeback attempt.

Sabres center Tage Thompson returned after missing nine games with an upper-body injury and had one assist.

Larkin opened the scoring on a hard shot to the glove side 3:40 into the game.

Fabbri made it 2-0 8:25 into the game following a flurry of offense in the Sabres’ end. Fabbri scored on a rebound after Andrew Kopp’s shot was initially stopped.

Seider made it 3-0 5:43 into the second on a dominant Red Wings power play. Following a series of rapid passing sequences, Seider buried a one-timer from the point for his fourth goal of the season.

Rasmussen made it 4-0 with 6:05 remaining in the second on a breakaway following a terrific pass by defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere.

The Sabres’ comeback attempt began late in the second period when Dahlin scored on the power play with 1:03 left in the period.

Mittelstadt made it 4-2 on a goal from close range 8:20 into the third.

Skinner cut Detroit’s lead to 4-3 on a backhand goal with 8:23 remaining.

Newly signed Red Wings forward Patrick Kane made the trip to his hometown and participated in the morning skate, but did not play. The veteran is expected to make his season debut later this week. Kane has been out since undergoing hip surgery in June.

UP NEXT

Red Wings: Host the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.

Sabres: Travel to Boston on Thursday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl