*Photo from the New Haven Register*
They came out determined and did their job. Jared Spurgeon scored, Frederick Gaudreau won the game, and the Minnesota Wild defeated the Buffalo Sabres with a 3-2 shootout victory on Saturday night in Saint Paul.
With the win, the Wild head into the all star break and their bye week with two wins in a row and back in the playoff picture, moving into 3rd place in the Central Division and ahead of the Colorado Avalanche. 6 different skaters registered a point for the Wild in the shootout win.
Minnesota head coach Dean Evason said after the game that "It was close, it was tight. We made some mistakes for sure, but guys were backing each other up and picking each other up on the bench. We didn't have the jump that I think we normally have, so we grinded, which is how we're going to win hockey games anyway. They put a little more emphasis on that, and we got it done."
Kicking off the scoring was Buffalo's Jack Quinn, who scored an unassisted goal 2:22 into the game, giving the Sabres a 1-0 lead with his 8th goal of the season. On the power play at the 3:35 mark of the first period, Joel Eriksson Ek tied the game for the Wild, making the score 1-1 with Mats Zuccarello and Kirill Kaprizov assisting.
Later in the second period, Zemgus Girgensons scored 9:50 into the frame, putting the Sabres ahead 2-1 with his 5th goal of the season, assisted by Kyle Okposo and Peyton Krebs. At the 12:39 mark of the period, Spurgeon provided the game tying goal, making it 2-2. The 3rd period and overtime went without goals, forcing a shootout.
Quinn and Thompson attempted in the shootout for the Sabres, with Thompson converting. All 3 of Zuccarello, Kaprizov, and Gaudreau scored in the shootout for the Wild, giving Minnesota a 3-2 victory.
Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said that "You saw this morning that we’re out of the playoffs, right? Not fun to see. A good win tonight and a good two points. At least now we’ve got seven days to see ourselves in the playoffs. Then when we get back, get back to business."
The aforementioned Fleury was the starting goalie for the Wild, who had a strong game to pick up the win. Fleury made 29 saves on 31 shots from the Sabres, which was good for a .935 save percentage. His record improved to 16-10-3 before the all star break.
Between the pipes for the Sabres was Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who got the loss in the shootout to fall to 13-5-2 in 20 starts. Luukkonen stopped 33 out of the 35 shots on goal the Wild had, posting a .943 save percentage.
Buffalo head coach Don Granato said of the road loss that "We generated enough to win. At least we got a point out of it, which is big. The road trip, we had seven out of eight points, so it's a good trip. These guys should walk out with their heads up."
Up next, the Sabres get back in action with a Wednesday night matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes, with Luukkonen expected to start. The Wild resume play after the all star break, playing the Arizona Coyotes on February 6.
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