They dug themselves out of an early deficit to play with a lead, which was a step forward for the Detroit Red Wings.

That led to a bigger one, which was finally winning a game again. Their Saturday matinee against the Buffalo Sabres was magnified by a seven-game losing streak that has leveled the reserve of points banked during the feast that was January. Celebrating a 4-1 victory before a lively crowd at Little Caesars Arena kept the Wings in the tight race for a wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference and bought them a measure of relief.

Patrick Kane scored a go-ahed goal in the second period, giving the Wings a one-goal lead going into the third period. That's a luxury they hadn't had in more than two weeks, as a skid that began at home on Feb. 29 worsened on the road and then back home again.

The fourth line had a good afternoon, with Christian Fischer tying the game and Daniel Sprong angling a feed from Robby Fabbri into the net late in the third period. The Sabres pulled their goalie with about four minutes left for the extra attacker, and Lucas Raymond hustled to get an empty net goal with 67 seconds to play to secure the first points for the Wings since Feb. 27.

The start

The Wings' best shift in the opening minutes was from their fourth line. Sprong, back in the lineup after a one-game "reset," as head coach Derek Lalonde termed it, skated the puck up ice and passed to Fabbri. He sent the puck to Austin Czarnik, who was able to generate back-to-back shots against Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. A power play near the midpoint didn't generate much in the way of momentum. The Sabres needed just 15 seconds to get something out of their man advantage, with Rasmus Dahlin setting up Tage Thompson for a power play goal at 11:24. The Wings have not scored first in five games, dating back to their March 5 against the Avalanche in Denver.

Belly celly

It was the depth scorers that got the tying goal. Andrew Copp sent the puck to Fischer, who came out from behind the net and managed to fire the puck towards the net even as he fell onto his belly. It was only Fischer's third goal of the season, but it infused the Wings with some much-needed momentum. They made the next few minutes hard on Luukkonen, keeping the puck in Buffalo's zone and generating a couple shots on net.

A lead!

Kane came through with as big a goal as he has scored in the 36 games he has played since joining the lineup in December. Alex DeBrincat had a shot denied, then Shayne Gostisbehere took a shot from the left circle that Luukkonen also turned away. The play was still alive, and J.T. Compher fired a shot that ended with the puck squirting out to Kane, who was in position to net his 14th goal and 34th shot of the season. It marked the first time since the first period of the Colorado game that the Wings played with a lead, and the first time at LCA dating to Feb. 27.

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from  Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings' March plummet halted with 4-1 win over Buffalo