DETROIT – Todd McLellan said it after last season and repeated it at the start of training camp. The Detroit Red Wings must learn to manage games better.

He referenced the message Saturday, after a bitter 5-4 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres, a game in which the Red Wings seemed in complete control leading by three late in the second period.

“Clearly, we haven’t learned that yet,” McLellan said. “I don’t even know if you could write a script like that. Until this group figures out what’s important at certain times of the game, we’re going to have those nights.”

Many mental and physical mistakes contributed to the collapse that was complete after Mattias Samuelsson scored at 1:05 of overtime.

McLellan summarized several:

“We’re shorthanded and we’re trying to score and creating tu

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