Jeff Skinner scored twice in the third period, including the go-ahead goal with 3:20 to go, as the Buffalo Sabres rallied for a 5-4 victory over for the visiting Minnesota Wild on Friday night.
Skinner tied the game 3-3 at the 12:20 mark of the third and then made it 4-3 when he roofed a wrist shot from the left circle for his 23rd goal of the season at 16:40.
After Victor Olofsson increased Buffalo’s lead on an empty-net goal with 1:06 left, Minnesota closed to within a goal when Kirill Kaprizov (two goals, one assist) one-timed a shot from the high slot with 31.7 seconds left for his 26th of the season.
However, the Wild failed to get another shot on goal after that.
Casey Mittelstadt and Kyle Okposo each had a goal and an assist and Rasmus Dahlin added a pair of assists for Buffalo, which won its second straight game. Craig Anderson earned the win with 29 saves.
Kevin Fiala had a goal and an assist and Ryan Hartman also scored for Minnesota, which lost for the fifth time in six games. Jared Spurgeon chipped in with two assists while Kaapo Kahkonen made 33 saves.
Buffalo took a 1-0 lead at the 8:51 mark of the first period on a power-play goal by Mittelstadt. Dahlin set up the score with a blast from the point that bounced to the right side of the net, where Mittelstadt buried the rebound for his second goal of the season.
Minnesota tied it at the 15:25 mark of the first. Hartman’s wrist shot from above the right circle went past a Marcus Foligno screen and inside the far post. It was Hartman’s 22nd goal of the season and third in two games.
Buffalo took a 2-1 lead at 6:01 of the second period with another power-play goal. Okposo roofed a rebound of Mittelstadt shot that Kahkonen left by the right side of the crease. It was the 14th power play allowed by the Wild over the past 12 games.
Minnesota then took its first lead early in the third period with two goals in the span of 1:39.
Fiala got the first with a wrist shot from the top of the right circle at 3:20. The shot went through heavy traffic and past Anderson’s glove side for Fiala’s 18th goal of the season. Kaprizov followed with his first goal of the game on a power-play wrist shot from near the left faceoff dot, firing it past Anderson’s stick side.
–Field Level Media
