ST PAUL, Minn — Dylan Cozens tied it with 37 seconds left with goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen off for an extra attacker and Henri Jokiharju scored 1:29 into overtime to give the Buffalo Sabres a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.
Luukkonen made 31 saves to help Buffalo win for the second time in five games since the All-Star break. Casey Mittelstadt also scored.
Joel Eriksson Ek and Declan Chisholm scored for Minnesota, and Filip Gustavsson made 25 saves. The Wild had won four straight.
Cozens tied it off a scramble in front of the net. Jordan Greenway poked at the puck and it trickled through Gustavsson's pads. Cozens then knocked it across the goal line.
“You do the right things and success usually comes with it,” said Greenway, who was originally credited with the goal.
Jokiharju then beat Gustavsson with a wrist shot from the top of the slot. It was just the third goal of the season for the defenseman, but the goal didn't surprise Sabres coach Don Granato.
“He’s got some real good offensive instincts. You see it in practice, you see the shot that he took, the quick release, perfectly placed," Granato said. “Usually 5-on-5 through the regular 60 minutes of a game, (Jokiharju) is very responsible and focused so much on defense that you don’t get to see his offensive touch.”
After two scoreless periods, Mittelstadt got Buffalo on the board 39 seconds into the third period. The Twin Cities native scooped up a loose puck near the Wild blue line and fired a wrist shot that beat Gustavsson under his right arm.
“It was nice to see one go in in front of a lot of family and friends,” Mittelstadt said.
Less than four minutes later, Eriksson Ek tied it with his 25th of the season, one shy of his career high. Kirill Kaprizov carried the puck deep into the Buffalo zone, dragging two Sabres with him. Luukkonen lost his balance as Kaprizov dropped the puck back for Eriksson Ek, who banged it into the open net.
“You never know what he’s going to do,” Eriksson Ek said about Kaprizov. “He’s one of those players that you gotta be ready all the time. Fantastic pass.”
Connor Clifton was then called for a double minor after his stick caught Minnesota’s Jake Middleton in the face. The Sabres nearly killed off the Wild’s man advantage, but Chisholm scored his first NHL goal off a faceoff with 16 seconds left on the power play.
“Weird wave of emotions coming in,” Chisholm said. “Obviously, super happy to score that goal. It’s probably the best feeling I’ve ever had playing hockey. But it sucks to lose.”
Tage Thompson appeared to have given the Sabres a 1-0 lead late in the first with a power-play goal. But the Wild challenged the play and it was ruled a Sabres skater had been offside, nullifying the goal.
UP NEXT
Sabres: Host Anaheim on Monday afternoon.
Wild: Host Vancouver on Monday afternoon.
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