NHL

Buffalo Sabres at Minnesota Wild

· National Hockey League
Final
3 - 2

Sabres snap Wild's 7-game winning streak on Ostlund's shootout goal

Noah Ostlund wins it for Sabres in a shootout

Beck Malenstyn and Josh Doan scored in regulation for the Sabres, while Colten Ellis stopped 22 shots.

Filip Gustavsson made 30 saves for Minnesota while Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy scored Minnesota's regulation goals.

Both teams converted two of their first three shootout attempts. After Minnesota's Vladimir Tarasenko missed wide with a wrist shot, Ostlund beat Gustavsson high to seal the win for the Sabres.

The loss overshadowed a remarkable November for the Wild, who ended October with nine points, tied for the third-lowest total in the league. After going 11-1-2 in November, they find themselves among the top five in the league with 33 points.

Doan tied the game 2-2 early the third period on a fortunate bounce and misplay by the Wild's Mats Zuccarello. Doan fired a shot that hit Gustavsson and ricocheted off the glass behind the net. The puck bounced back toward Minnesota's goal and Zuccarello, trying to knock it out of the air into the corner, inadvertently redirected the puck into his own net.

Kaprizov, who scored twice in a 3-2 shootout win over the Avalanche on Friday, opened the scoring when he buried a pass from Zuccarello near the goal mouth.

Malenstyn scored off a deflection to tie it before Boldy muscled Alex Tuch off the puck deep in Buffalo’s end, then skated in alone and beat Ellis between the skates to give the Wild a 2-1 lead after one period.

Up next Sabres: Host Winnipeg on Monday night.

Wild: At Edmonton on Tuesday night.

Regular Season Series

BUF leads series 1-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 9:37 Kirill Kaprizov Goal (17) Snap Shot, assists: Mats Zuccarello (9), Danila Yurov (4)
Goal 1st Period 12:42 Beck Malenstyn Goal (3) Deflected, assists: Peyton Krebs (7), Josh Dunne (2)
Goal 1st Period 14:05 Matt Boldy Goal (15) Wrist Shot, assists: none
Goal 3rd Period 6:01 Josh Doan Goal (8) Wrist Shot, assists: Alex Tuch (14), Noah Ostlund (3)
Goal 5 0:00 Tage Thompson Goal Wrist Shot
Goal 5 0:00 Matt Boldy Goal Wrist Shot
Goal 5 0:00 Jack Quinn Goal Wrist Shot
Goal 5 0:00 Kirill Kaprizov Goal Backhand
Goal 5 0:00 Noah Ostlund Goal Wrist Shot

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/buf.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originBUF https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/min.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originMIN
8 Blocked Shots 14
20 Hits 18
6 Takeaways 6
33 Shots 24
0 Power Play Goals 0
3 Power Play Opportunities 3
0.0 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
26 Faceoffs Won 32
44.8 Faceoff Win Percent 55.2
18 Giveaways 15
3 Total Penalties 3
6 Penalty Minutes 6
Minnesota Wild Minnesota Wild Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Jonas Brodin, D Out Dec 15
David Jiricek, D Day-To-Day Dec 14
Marcus Johansson, LW Day-To-Day Dec 14
Mats Zuccarello, RW Injured Reserve Dec 11
Jake Middleton, D Injured Reserve Dec 11
Buffalo Sabres Buffalo Sabres Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Colten Ellis, G Injured Reserve Dec 11
Jason Zucker, LW Injured Reserve Dec 9

Game Information

Grand Casino Arena

Location: Saint Paul, MN
Attendance: 17,233 | Capacity:

2025-26 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Tampa Bay 18 11 39 3
Detroit 18 12 39 3
Montreal 17 11 38 4
Boston 19 14 38 0
Florida 16 13 34 2
Toronto 14 12 33 5
Ottawa 14 13 32 4
Buffalo 14 14 32 4

2025-26 Central Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Colorado 23 2 53 7
Dallas 21 7 47 5
Minnesota 19 9 43 5
Utah 16 15 35 3
Chicago 13 13 32 6
Winnipeg 15 15 31 1
St. Louis 12 14 31 7
Nashville 12 15 28 4
Full Standings