The Minnesota Wild and Buffalo Sabres faced off for the second time this season and the first in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Saturday afternoon, Mar. 22. The first game was a 1-0 victory for the Wild on the road, and Kirill Kaprizov had the lone goal. Fast forward to now, Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Marcus Foligno were still out with injuries. While Marcus Johansson returned from illness and Marco Rossi returned after blocking a shot in their previous game, the big news of the day was the return of defenseman Jonas Brodin, who’d missed the last nine games due to an injury.
The Sabres were without Jiri Kulich and Josh Norris, but they had Zach Benson back in the lineup after an illness. The goaltending matchup was between Filip Gustavsson, in his career-high sixth consecutive start for the Wild, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen for the Sabres. The game started out in favor of the Wild, and it stayed that way as they took the 4-1 win. This moved the Wild’s record to 40-25-5 and the Sabres to 27-35-6.
Game Recap
It was a goaltending showdown throughout the first period. Although there weren’t many shots, there were some good ones. However, none of them made it through, and the first period ended scoreless.
The second period shifted in favor of the Wild as Marco Rossi scored his 22nd of the season to put his team up 1-0 less than a minute into the second. Yakov Trenin and Vinnie Hinostroza assisted him. That goal swung the Wild’s momentum as they added another goal a few minutes later. Justin Brazeau knocked a puck off his body and put his team up 2-0. The assists went to Brendan Gaunce and Matt Boldy.
The scoring in the second continued as Mats Zuccarello sniped one past Luukkonen to make it 3-0 off a pass from Boldy with Rossi as a screen. Boldy and Zach Bogosian assisted. That was how the second ended, with the Wild in control of a commanding three goal lead.
The Sabres found a way through in the third as they scored on a 4-on-4. J.J. Peterka registered the goal, which was assisted by Owen Power and Rasmus Dahlin to make it 3-1 early in the period. The Wild added one more goal at the very end on the empty net to make it 4-1 and earn their third win in a row. The goal was tallied by Frédérick Gaudreau, who was assisted by Zuccarello and Brodin.
This win was the final of a seven-game homestand for the Wild. They’ll head on the road to face the Dallas Stars on Monday, Mar. 24, in the first game of a back-to-back. The Sabres will continue on the road as they head north to face the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday, Mar. 23, in the second half of their back-to-back.
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