Minnesota connections on the Sabres helped in victory over the Wild

To wrap up Week 18, the Buffalo Sabres were in Minnesota to take on the Wild. After getting shutout by the Florida Panthers on home ice Thursday night, the Sabres were hoping for a better result against a Minnesota team fighting for a playoff spot. In the Panthers game, Buffalo was without goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen who was day-to-day with a lower-body injury, but he was back in between the pipes today.

During the first period, Luukkonen and Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson put on a show as they were both awesome for their respective clubs. Buffalo and Minnesota had multiple chances to score, but the goalies had other ideas. Going into the second period, it was the same story as the game remained scoreless after 40 minutes.

Once the third period started, it changed quickly. 39 seconds in, Minnesota native Casey Mittelstadt scored to give Buffalo the 1-0 lead. A few minutes later, Joel Eriksson Ek tied it up for the Wild after Luukkonen got out of position for an easy tap-in. Sabres defenseman Connor Clifton took a fourr-minute high-sticking penalty, giving the Wild a long power play a few minutes later.

Buffalo was able to kill off most of it, but Declan Chisholm scored his first NHL goal with just under 20 seconds remaining in the power play. Minnesota did a great job holding off the Sabres as they had to hold them for another minute. With Luukkonen on the bench and an extra man, Buffalo had one more chance. During a mad scramble in front of the Wild net, Dylan Cozens poked it into the net as Buffalo tied the game.

At first, Jordan Greenway was credited with the goal, but it was awarded to Cozens after the game. Regardless, Greenway the former Wild got a point on the play and most importantly, the Sabres tied the game.

In overtime, Buffalo defenseman Henri Jokiharju won it for the Sabres with a great one-timer as Buffalo evened up the season series. With another solid performance from UPL, Buffalo found a way and left Minnesota with two points.

The Sabres will look to make it two in a row as they will host the Anaheim Ducks for a Presidents Day showdown on Monday at 12:30.