Mats Zuccarello scored a power-play goal in overtime for the Minnesota Wild, who snapped a three-game losing streak with a 5-4 victory over the host Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.
Zuccarello, Vladimir Tarasenko and Quinn Hughes each had a goal and an assist and Marcus Foligno and Ryan Hartman also scored a goal for the Wild. Kirill Kaprizov had three assists, including one on the game winner.
Filip Gustavsson stopped 20 shots and got the secondary assist on Zuccarello’s sixth of the season on a crisp two-zone pass to Kaprizov.
Jack Quinn and Ryan McLeod each scored a goal with an assist for the Sabres, with Peyton Krebs and Alex Tuch also scoring goals. Jason Zucker assisted on a pair of goals as Buffalo earned a point for the 16th time over its last 18 games (15-2-1).
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen registered 30 saves for the Sabres.
Foligno put the Wild on the scoreboard first with his second goal in three games when he delivered with 10:41 remaining in the opening period. Tarasenko and Ben Jones assisted on Foligno’s third of the season, with Jones getting his first NHL assist.
McLeod tied the game 46 seconds later on breakaway with Quinn. McLeod’s stick redirected Quinn’s backhand pass into the net for his 11th of the season.
Hartman gave Minnesota a 2-1 edge with 7.5 seconds left in the first as Hughes found him through traffic next to the net for his 13th goal. Tarasenko’s ninth of the season gave the Wild a 3-1 lead just 68 seconds into the second period.
Krebs scored his fourth of the season from Mattias Samuelsson with 9:53 to go in the period, and Quinn’s 11th tied the game less than 90 seconds later.
Tuch scored on the power play with 3:53 to go in the second to give Buffalo its first lead of the game at 4-3. Tuch’s 17th goal extended point streaks for him and Tage Thompson to seven games apiece.
That Sabres lead was brief as Hughes’ fourth of the season, and second with the Wild, evened the game with 2:56 left.
The third period was clean until Krebs took a hooking penalty with 14 seconds remaining. That carried over into overtime Zuccarello scored just as the power play was ending.
The Sabres lost in overtime for the first time since Nov. 4.
–Field Level Media
