The Buffalo Sabres were defeated 5-4 in overtime by the Minnesota Wild on Saturday at KeyBank Center. Mats Zuccarello scored the decisive goal for Minnesota during a 4-on-3 power play in the extra period.
After trailing 3-1 midway through the second period and registering only seven shots on goal, the Sabres managed to tie the game with goals from Peyton Krebs and Jack Quinn. Alex Tuch then gave Buffalo a brief lead with a power-play goal, but Quinn Hughes of Minnesota equalized late in the second period.
“It was like a team could stack a couple good shifts together, but then the other team would get a little bit of momentum,” said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff. “It was really a back-and-forth affair where you couldn’t capture momentum for more than probably two or three minutes. We captured it; they got a late goal in the period.”
Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 30 saves, including 10 in the third period, helping send the game to overtime. However, after Mattias Samuelsson cleared the puck during Minnesota’s extended power play, Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson made a long pass that led to an odd-man rush and Zuccarello’s winning goal.
“That’s brutal,” said Krebs, who was one second away from leaving the penalty box when Zuccarello scored. He also commented that he did not believe his stickwork deserved a hooking penalty.
“[Gustavsson] made a great play. Our guys were dead tired,” added Ruff. “I mean, we had an unbelievable kill going to that point. I don’t think we gave them a shot.”
Despite losing in overtime, Buffalo collected one point in the standings against one of the NHL’s top teams. The Sabres’ power play has been effective recently, converting five times on fourteen opportunities over their last three games (36 percent). Jack Quinn has now scored four goals in his last five games while Alex Tuch extended his scoring streak to seven games with five goals and three assists during that span.
“Not our best game all around,” Quinn said, “but great job of fighting our way back and staying with it and getting a point.”
Sabres defenseman Michael Kesselring returned from an ankle injury for his first appearance since December 31. He played just over ten minutes with two hits and nine penalty minutes. Early in the game he hit the post on an offensive chance before being involved in multiple altercations resulting in penalties and later suffered a bloody nose after being punched by David Jiricek of Minnesota.
“Awesome job,” Ruff said about Kesselring’s performance. “He was trying to make his presence felt; I thought he did, right off the bat. Marcus is a big, strong kid, and to take him on, I give kudos to him.
“But you could see early on, he wanted to try to make a difference with the puck. He wanted to get involved offensively.”
Kesselring remains without points after seventeen games interrupted by injuries this season.
Luukkonen saw his home win streak end at seven games but maintains strong numbers at KeyBank Center this season: eight wins, one loss and one overtime loss along with .914 save percentage and 2.38 goals-against average.
“Personally, for me, I want to make more saves, I want to help the team to win,” Luukkonen said. “One-goal games, you always think to yourself, ‘Well, only one (more) save here and there, and we would’ve won the game.’ But it’s on me, it’s on the team, to limit those scoring chances and win those games.”
Buffalo will begin its next five-game stretch on Monday against Carolina Hurricanes at 1:30 p.m., with coverage available via TNT and truTV as well as streaming on HBO Max.
