BUFFALO, N.Y. _ The Detroit Red Wings welcomed back one teammate, only to watch another suffer a scare.
Their Tuesday game against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center started well when Darren Helm scored in the opening minute, but the Sabres rallied twice to hand the Wings a 3-2 defeat and left them 14-40-4.
Brendan Perlini left in the first period after suffering a deep laceration to his nose when Sabres defenseman Henri Jokiharju fell forward and accidentally hit Perlini in the face with a skate. Perlini was stitched up by a team doctor at the arena.
Helm scored in the first and second periods. Sam Reinhart gave the Sabres their first lead of the game in the opening minute of the third period, stuffing a rebound behind Jonathan Bernier.
Filip Hronek's ill-advised decision to check Marcus Johansson into the boards left the Wings shorthanded with 2:55 to play in regulation.
Anthony Mantha reappeared for the first time since suffering a punctured lung Dec. 21. Frans Nielsen, out since Feb. 1 with an upper body injury, was also cleared to play, prompting the Wings to return forwards Taro Hirose and Givani Smith to the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Mantha earned an assist 27 seconds into the game when he had a hand in Helm's goal. Helm pounced on a loose puck in the paint to make it 1-0.
Mantha jostled with Rasmus Ristolainen and Jake McCabe in the second period after a run-in with Sabres goaltender Carter Hutton, but emerged unscathed.
Helm scored at 7:02 of the second period, again set up by Mantha. Helm was in front of the net when he collected the puck and beat Hutton on a backhand shot. That was Helm's eighth goal of the season.
That lead was leveled at 14:59 when Johansson beat Bernier with a shot from the right circle. The Wings faced a second penalty kill 33 seconds later but caught a break when Rasmus Dahlin was called for high sticking, making it 4-on-4 for 56 seconds.
Conor Sheary scored less than a minute after Helm did in the first period, and had a chance to provide the Sabres a lead early in the second period on another scoring chance.
Hronek chased Sheary and wound up being called for slashing, with officials awarding Sheary a penalty shot. He fumbled the chance, whiffing and firing wide.
