Buffalo's Sam Reinhart scored the only shootout goal, carrying the Sabres to a 5-4 win over the visiting Minnesota Wild on Tuesday.
Sabres goalie Linus Ullmark stopped Victor Rask and Jason Zucker in the shootout before Reinhart's shot went off the blocker of Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk and trickled in to open the third round.
Ullmark then stuffed Zach Parise to end the game but was shaken up when Parise's hip hit his head. With his teammates celebrating, Ullmark immediately left the ice and headed to the dressing room.
Reinhart also had a regulation goal and an assist, and Evan Rodrigues, C.J. Smith and Rasmus Dahlin also scored for the Sabres, who broke a two-game losing streak. Jack Eichel recorded two assists.
Defenseman Jared Spurgeon netted two goals, Charlie Coyle and Parise each added a goal, and Luke Kunin and Ryan Suter posted a pair of assists apiece for the Wild, who have lost three straight.
Ullmark made 41 saves in the win, and Dubnyk stopped 35 shots.
Buffalo went up 1-0 at 4:31 of the first period on the game's first power play. Rodrigues zipped a high shot into the top right corner for his seventh goal.
Spurgeon tied it with his tally in the second period when he batted in a puck that Ullmark deflected up in the air. Smith, just recalled from AHL Rochester on Monday, finished a slick feed from Reinhart to give Buffalo a 2-1 lead just 63 seconds later.
Dahlin, 18, snapped in a wrister for his sixth goal at 11:33 to give Buffalo its first two-goal lead.
However, Spurgeon skated around behind Ullmark's goal and slammed in his second goal of the game and 10th this season at 13:43 to trim the Wild's deficit to 3-2.
Coyle later kept the puck alive twice during extended zone time along the board and soon pounced on a rebound for his 10th goal at 17:05. The tally knotted the game at 3 after two periods.
Reinhart buried a diagonal pass from Jake McCabe for a 4-3 lead at 6:25 of the third, and Buffalo appeared headed to a victory.
However, Parise's jam shot trickled over Ullmark's skate to tie it at 4 at 18:23 with the Minnesota net empty for the extra skater.
--Field Level Media
Minnesota | Buffalo | |
Jared Spurgeon 2 | Points | Sam Reinhart 2 |
Jared Spurgeon 2 | Goals | Sam Reinhart 1 |
Luke Kunin 2 | Assists | Jack Eichel 2 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | Rasmus Dahlin 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Devan Dubnyk .897 | Save Percentage | Linus Ullmark .911 |
Devan Dubnyk 35 | Saves | Linus Ullmark 41 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Minnesota | 45 | 4 | 0-3 | 0-2 | 4 | 31 |
Buffalo | 39 | 5 | 2-2 | 3-3 | 6 | 33 |