St. Paul, Minn. (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Sabres swept their season series over the Minnesota Wild with, yet, another 3-2 victory. This one, however, came with some spice.
While playing at Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota on Saturday afternoon, the Sabres needed a tying goal with seconds left in regulation before the team completed the comeback in overtime thanks to defenseman Henri Jokiharju.
The first 40 minutes of action saw strong goaltending play from Sabres netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson.
Buffalo did score a power play goal in the opening period of play, but it was taken off the board. After Tage Thompson connected for, what was thought to be, the game's opening tally late in the first period, a coach's challenge from the Wild for an offside 27 seconds earlier took the goal away from Buffalo.
After an even shot total through the first period at 12-12, the Wild took over a bit in the middle frame with 10 shots on goal compared to Buffalo's three.
After two scoreless frames to start this contest, the game opened up and saw four goals in the third period of play. Both sides traded goals, while both squads held leads at some point in the final 20 minutes.
The Sabres opened the scoring in the third period, as Casey Mittelstadt returned home to Minnesota and score just 39 seconds into the frame.
Less than four minutes later, the Wild scored their first of consecutive goals to take the lead. Joel Eriksson Ek's 25th goal of the season made it 1-1, before defenseman Declan Chisholm's first career goal gave Minnesota a 2-1 edge.
Buffalo kept the game within striking distance in the waning moments, and finally found the equalizer inside the final minute.
Playing in his first game back in Minnesota since his trade to Buffalo 11 months ago, winger Jordan Greenway was originally credited with the game-tying score to force overtime. It was eventually credited to Dylan Cozens, who pushed the puck over the goal line to ensure a tied game.
In overtime, it was an unlikely source who dropped the curtain on the Wild.
Jokiharju got himself free and open in the slot after making a nice play to keep possession of the puck in the Minnesota end. He then snapped the game-winning goal past Gustavsson just a minute-and-a-half into the extra frame.
----------
SCORING RECAP
First Period:
BUF: NONE
MIN: NONE
Second Period:
BUF: NONE
MIN: NONE
Third Period:
BUF: 0:39 - Casey Mittelstadt (13) (Henri Jokiharju); 19:24 - Dylan Cozens (11) (Jordan Greenway, Tage Thompson)
MIN: 4:02 - Joel Eriksson Ek (25) (Kirill Kaprizov); 11:21 - Declan Chisholm (1) PPG (Marcus Johansson, Marco Rossi)
Overtime:
BUF: 1:29 - Henri Jokiharju (3) (Alex Tuch, Tage Thompson)
MIN: NONE
----------
----------
Losi & Gangi Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen - BUF
2.) Henri Jokiharju - BUF
3.) Joel Eriksson Ek - MIN
----------
What's next:
The blue and gold return home to host the Anaheim Ducks on Monday afternoon for a 12:30 p.m. EST T faceoff at KeyBank Center. Pregame coverage on WGR starts at 11:30 am EST with Derek Kramer.