DETROIT — Ownership and management apparently put together a flawed team over the summer. Injuries have decimated the product, the players left behind have badly underachieved and the NHL's senior-most coach has had absolutely no answers.

This is life in Sabreland, heading into the abyss of the nether regions of the Eastern Conference.

The Buffalo Sabres hit a new low Monday night in Joe Louis Arena as they were completely outclassed in a 5-0 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.

The Red Wings coasted to their 15th straight home win, breaking their club record of 14 set in 1965. The Sabres, meanwhile, extended their inglorious franchise mark with their ninth straight regulation loss on the road. And remember, this was just game two of seven straight on the road, with a visit to Chicago coming Wednesday night.

"The injury excuse isn't what this team is about," said captain Jason Pominville. "We have enough guys in the lineup to win games and we're not doing it right now. We have to find a way."

Owner Terry Pegula is on this trip and got a first-hand look at the mess that has become of his millions. He was grim-faced as he entered the locker room with senior advisors Ken Sawyer and Cliff Benson, who made sure Pegula was doing no interviews when a couple of reporters approached in the press box after the final horn.

Todd Bertuzzi and Pavel Datsyuk put together three-point games for the Red Wings and goaltender Jimmy Howard made 27 saves for his fourth shutout and league-leading 27th win of the season. Ryan Miller, meanwhile, gave up five goals on 14 shots and was yanked after Bertuzzi and Darren Helm scored 13 seconds apart early in the second period. That capped a rush of four Detroit goals in a 6:21 span covering the first two periods.

Not what Miller wanted in his home state while his family was in the stands watching him face his brother, Drew.

"It's embarrassing," Miller said. "I got family and friends here. Everybody came to watch Drew and I play. At least they got to watch Drew perform."

Pegula and president Ted Black have steadfastly maintained coach Lindy Ruff, who has been behind the bench since 1997, is not in danger of being replaced. Still, this one has to be one of the worst performances in Ruff's tenure.

It thus would appear the onus remains on General Manager Darcy Regier to author some kind of shakeup via trade if the season is to be saved. Miller didn't agree with that notion.

"If you guys really think there's going to be any kind of trade made anywhere that's going to affect this team anymore than we can affect it in this locker room, you guys are just ... I don't know," said an emotional Miller, his jaw clenched and his lip quivering. "I don't know what to think because there's no such trade.

"There's not ever going to be a trade in the history of the NHL that's going to affect anything like that. There's no chance anybody comes into this team and just shakes it up or we can even move multiple players and get any kind of return.

"If you want to just destroy a team and go out and be reckless and do something, yeah. Then there's going to be new guys in here. But other than that, this locker room is going to be pretty much the same, if not completely the same and we gotta find it from in here [points to chest]. You can't sit and wait for somebody else to [bleeping] do it."

Of course, Miller has to realize teams make trades all the time. But the Sabres are admittedly in back-up-the-truck mode. The forwards are soft, the defense turns the puck over with impunity and the goaltending can't cover for the mistakes.

"It's not good hockey. It's not good from top down," Miller said. "I need to be better. I can't seem to find a night where I can get in a groove. I don't know what the hell it is."

Certainly, Pegula didn't run his payroll to the salary cap to see his team implode to the bottom of the East. At this point, the Sabres are closer to 15th place (five points) than to the No. 8 playoff spot (seven).

The Sabres made their requisite number of turnovers and bad decisions, with defensemen Jordan Leopold and Mike Weber getting nailed with minus-4 ratings. Leopold overplayed a long Datsyuk pass, allowing Johan Franzen to score at 18:11 of the first period and give the Wings a 2-0 lead. Nicklas Lidstrom's tap-in with 17 seconds left made it 3-0 in a period where each team had 11 shots on goal.

"It was a shot in the gut, the end of the first period," said a terse Ruff, who had few explanations. "It's not easy to stomach."

Sure had to be tough for Pegula to watch.

"He's done more than his part," Pominville said. "He's given everything to us to have success. He remodeled the whole arena basically. He went out and has been really good with our families, really good with the players. It's up to us to give back. Right now, we're just not doing a good enough job."

mharrington@buffnews.comnull