Zuccarello scores in OT, Wild recover to defeat Sabres

BUFFALO -- Mats Zuccarello scored a power-play goal at 1:46 of overtime, and the Minnesota Wild recovered for a 5-4 win against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Saturday.

Zuccarello, who also had an assist, won it when he took a cross-ice feed from Kirill Kaprizov and snapped it past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Minnesota goalie Filip Gustavsson started the play with a stretch pass up to Kaprizov at the opposing blue line while the Sabres were on a line change. The goal came just before a hooking penalty to Buffalo forward Peyton Krebs expired.

“He’s a sniper, actually,” Kaprizov said of Zuccarello, who has four points (two goals, two assists) in his past five games. “He doesn’t score so many; he always tries to make passes, but I know he has a great shot. He should shoot more.”

Quinn Hughes and Vladimir Tarasenko also each had a goal and an assist, and Kaprizov had three assists for the Wild (27-13-9), who lost their previous three games – all at home (0-2-1) -- and were playing without several key pieces in forwards Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Johansson, and defensemen Jonas Brodin and Zach Bogosian. Gustavsson made 20 saves.

“None of us liked how the homestand went, and I think to be able to get on the road with this group, this is the group we’re going to have for the road trip, was get to the identity and play the game that gives us the best chance to win,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “The guys bought into it, they executed and we found a way to win, which is great.”

Jack Quinn and Ryan McLeod each had a goal and an assist, and Jason Zucker had two assists for the Sabres (26-16-5), who lost for just the third time in 18 games (15-2-1). Luukkonen made 30 saves.

“It was a game where both teams made some big mistakes, and both teams took advantage of mistakes,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. “We gave up two goals on line changes, and we got a couple goals off of turnovers.

“Our puck play wasn’t as good inside the game, which I think that hurt us. … It wasn’t a clean game. They’re a hard team to play against.”

Marcus Foligno gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 9:19 of the first period, pushing a pass from Tarasenko past Luukkonen.

McLeod tied it 1-1 at 10:05 when Quinn’s centering pass on the rush went off his skate and past Gustavsson.

“I bobbled it, so I felt like I didn’t have a chance to get a good shot, so just tried to get it to him back post, and it was lucky to bounce in there,” Quinn said.

Ryan Hartman gave Minnesota a 2-1 lead at 19:52, redirecting Hughes’ pass through the crease at the back door.

Tarasenko made it 3-1 at 1:08 of the second period with a wrist shot from the left face-off circle.

Krebs cut it to 3-2 at 10:07 on a redirection of Mattias Samuelsson’s shot pass from above the left circle, and Quinn tied it 3-3 at 11:34, outmuscling Wild defenseman Brock Faber to push in the rebound of Rasmus Dahlin’s shot.

Alex Tuch put Buffalo ahead 4-3 on the power play at 16:07. He took a feed from Tage Thompson low in the right circle and beat Gustavsson short side over his left shoulder.

“I think just keeping it simple, getting to net -- that’s what created success for us,” Krebs said. “That kind of broke up their structure and allowed us to play in the [offensive] zone. Got to continue to do that next game (at the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday). Play the right way, and we’ll win hockey games.”

Hughes tied it 4-4 just 57 seconds after Tuch’s goal at 17:04 with a slap shot from above the slot.

It was Hughes’ second goal in 17 games with the Wild and first since his debut with them on Dec. 14 after being traded by the Vancouver Canucks.

“Honestly, I just feel like I’ve had chances to score, Grade-A [chances], every game and it just hasn’t gone [in] for me,” Hughes said. “There’s years like last year, year before that, it was going [in] for me. I’ve had a lot of good bounces over the years, and I just feel like I needed one.”

NOTES: It was Kaprizov’s seventh three-point game this season. … Hughes played a game-high 29:52, and Faber was plus-1 in 28:41. … With an assist, Thompson extended his home point streak to 10 games (16 points; five goals, 11 assists). … Sabres defenseman Michael Kesselring was plus-1 in 10:16 of ice time in his return after missing seven games because of a lower-body injury.