ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Noah Ostlund scored the winner in a shootout on Saturday night and the Buffalo Sabres snapped the Minnesota Wild’s seven-game winning streak with a 3-2 victory.
Beck Malenstyn and Josh Doan scored in regulation for the Sabres, while Colten Ellis stopped 22 shots.
Filip Gustavsson made 30 saves for Minnesota while Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy scored Minnesota’s regulation goals.
Both teams converted two of their first three shootout attempts. After Minnesota’s Vladimir Tarasenko missed wide with a wrist shot, Ostlund beat Gustavsson high to seal the win for the Sabres.
The loss overshadowed a remarkable November for the Wild, who ended October with nine points, tied for the third-lowest total in the league. After going 11-1-2 in November, they find themselves among the top five in the league with 33 points.
Doan tied the game 2-2 early the third period on a fortunate bounce and misplay by the Wild’s Mats Zuccarello. Doan fired a shot that hit Gustavsson and ricocheted off the glass behind the net. The puck bounced back toward Minnesota’s goal and Zuccarello, trying to knock it out of the air into the corner, inadvertently redirected the puck into his own net.
Kaprizov, who scored twice in a 3-2 shootout win over the Avalanche on Friday, opened the scoring when he buried a pass from Zuccarello near the goal mouth.
Malenstyn scored off a deflection to tie it before Boldy muscled Alex Tuch off the puck deep in Buffalo’s end, then skated in alone and beat Ellis between the skates to give the Wild a 2-1 lead after one period.
Up next
Sabres: Host Winnipeg on Monday night.
Wild: At Edmonton on Tuesday night.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
By PATRICK DONNELLY
Associated Press
