St. Paul, Minn. (WGR Sports Radio 550) – Another forgettable second period did the Buffalo Sabres in once again on Saturday afternoon in a 4-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center.
After a scoreless first period, the Wild broke the tie less than a minute into the second.
Wild forward Marco Rossi was left all alone in front of Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, and the Austria native scored his 22nd goal of the 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 in off his leg. The scoring play survived a second-look by officiating, giving the Wild a 2-0 advantage.
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 the year.
The Sabres finally got on the scoreboard with just under seven minutes gone in the third period. 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 came, though.
With less than a minute left in the contest and Buffalo’s net empty, Wild forward Frederick Gaudreau hit the unmanned net to close the scoring at 4-1.
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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
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What's next:
The Sabres head to Winnipeg to take on the Jets on Sunday at Canada Life Centre. Puck drop is slated for 3 p.m. with Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on the call.