Ellis dominates NHL debut with 27 saves as Sabres beat Red Wings

The Buffalo Sabres defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-2 as goaltender Colten Ellis earned his first NHL victory in his debut performance.

Jack Quinn led Buffalo’s offense with one goal and two assists in the victory Wednesday night.

Ellis, claimed off waivers from St. Louis earlier this month, made 27 saves and stopped two breakaway attempts. The 25-year-old became the eighth Nova Scotia-born goaltender in NHL history.

He’s also the ninth goaltender in Sabres franchise history to win his NHL debut.

Buffalo got scoring contributions from Tyson Kozak, who found the net for the second consecutive game, and Jason Zucker, who scored before leaving with an upper-body injury in the second period. Josh Doan also scored for the Sabres.

Detroit’s goals came from J.T. Compher and Emmitt Finnie. The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Red Wings.

John Gibson made 27 saves in the losing effort, while Dylan Larkin recorded an assist.

Ellis didn’t face a shot during the opening 10 minutes but made his presence felt late in the first period by stopping Marco Kasper on a breakaway opportunity.

The rookie goaltender continued his strong play early in the second period, denying Larkin on another breakaway chance.

Compher finally solved Ellis with a skilled individual effort. He corralled a pass from Albert Johansson and whipped the puck to his forehand to beat the Buffalo netminder.

Zucker answered back for Buffalo on a 2-on-1 rush with Quinn midway through the second period.

Kozak extended the lead to 2-1 after receiving a short pass from Quinn.

Finnie tied the game late in the period by charging to the front of the net and one-timing a pass from Larkin.

Quinn restored Buffalo’s lead early in the third period with a goal from between the circles.

Doan sealed the victory by beating Gibson from the left circle to make it 4-2.

Ellis withstood a late push from Detroit after the Red Wings pulled Gibson with approximately three minutes remaining.