Dylan Cozens scored with 35.8 seconds left in regulation and Henri Jokiharju scored 1:29 into overtime to lift the visiting Buffalo Sabres to a 3-2 comeback win over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday evening in St. Paul, Minn.
Casey Mittelstadt also scored for Buffalo, which won its first overtime game since Dec. 30 against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Sabres have won two of their past three games.
Joel Eriksson Ek and Declan Chisholm scored one goal apiece for Minnesota. The Wild collected one point by reaching overtime but their four-game winning streak ended.
Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 30 of 32 shots to earn the win.
Wild netminder Filip Gustavsson took the overtime loss after turning aside 25 of 28 shots.
Jokiharju scored the winning goal on a one-timer from the slot. He waited for a pass from Alex Tuch and blasted a shot past Gustavsson for his third goal of the season.
The game was scoreless through the first two periods.
Buffalo opened the scoring 39 seconds into the third period. Mittelstadt, who was born in nearby Eden Prairie, Minn., and played collegiately for Minnesota, converted on a two-on-one rush to tally a goal.
It was Mittelstadt’s 13th goal of the season and the second of his career against the Wild.
Minnesota evened the score at 1-1 with 15:58 remaining. After a turnover by Buffalo, Kirill Kaprizov took the puck and stormed into the offensive zone. He slid a pass to Eriksson Ek, who capitalized for his team-leading 25th goal.
The Wild grabbed a 2-1 lead on Chisholm’s first career goal with 8:39 to go. The 24-year-old scored on a wrist shot through traffic in his fifth NHL game.
Buffalo pulled even at 2-2 on Cozens’ goal in the final minute. The Sabres had an extra attacker on the ice when Cozens punched in his 11th goal.
The Wild honored Jordan Greenway with a video tribute in the first period. Greenway, who is in first full season with Buffalo, played for Minnesota for parts of the previous five seasons.
–Field Level Media
