St. Paul, Minnesota (WGR Sports Radio 550/WBEN) - On Saturday afternoon, the Buffalo Sabres were did in by a forgettable second period.
Facing the Minnesota Wild, the blue and gold allowed three goals in the middle stanza in what was an eventual 4-1 loss at Xcel Energy Center.
After a scoreless first period, the Wild broke the tie less than a minute into the second. Marco Rossi was left all alone in front of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, and the forward made a deposit for the 22nd time this season.
Minnesota doubled its lead just over five-minutes into the middle stanza. During a mad scramble in front of the net, forward Justin Brazeau scored a goal that inadvertently deflected off of his leg. The scoring play survived a second-look by officiating and made it 2-0 Wild.
The lead swelled to 3-0 just over three-minutes later. Minnesota skated down and entered the Buffalo zone, with Mats Zuccarello skating as a trailer on the play. The puck found the veteran forward, who hammered home his 17th goal of 2024-25 as the Wild kept burying the Sabres deeper.
The blue and gold got on the scoreboard with just under seven-minutes expires in the third period of play. Rasmus Dahlin gained the zone, dished the puck back to Owen Power, who then fed JJ Peterka for a goal from the right-wing side.
That would be as far as the Sabres' comeback attempt would go, though. With less than a minute left, and the Buffalo net empty, Wild forward Frederick Gaudreau hit the unmanned twine to bring us to the final score of 4-1 on Saturday.
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SCORING RECAP
First Period:
BUF: NONE
MIN: NONE
Second Period:
BUF: NONE
MIN: 0:56 - Marco Rossi (22) (Yakov Trenin, Vinnie Hinostroza); 5:07 - Justin Brazeau (11) (Brendan Gaunce, Matt Boldy); 8:11 - Mats Zuccarello (17) (Matt Boldy, Zach Bogosian)
Third Period:
BUF: 6:48 - JJ Peterka (21) (Owen Power, Rasmus Dahlin)
MIN: 19:27 - Frederick Gaudreau (16) ENG (Mats Zuccarello)
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Three Stars of the Game:
1. Matt Boldy - MIN
2. Filip Gustavsson - MIN
3. Mats Zuccarello - MIN
What's Next:
The blue and gold head to Winnipeg, Manitoba to take on the Jets tomorrow afternoon, March 23. Puck drop at Canada Life Centre is set for 3 p.m. EST with Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on the call.