Wild end Sabres winning streak at 5 with shootout victory

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Wild ended the Buffalo Sabres' five-game winning streak with a 3-2 shootout victory at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday.

Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves, and Joel Eriksson Ek and Jared Spurgeon scored for Minnesota (27-17-4), which had lost three of four.
It was the last game before the All-Star break for the Wild. They next play at the Arizona Coyotes on Feb. 6.
"I'm just glad we didn't get away from our game," Wild coach Dean Evason said. "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."
Jack Quinn and Zemgus Girgensons scored, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 33 saves for Buffalo (26-19-4), which extended its point streak to seven (5-0-2).
"We generated enough to win," Sabres coach Don Granato said. "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."

Quinn gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 2:22 of the first period. He intercepted a clearing attempt from Wild defenseman Jake Middleton in the right circle, circled back and scored from the high slot.
Eriksson Ek tied it 1-1 at 3:35, chipping in a pass from Kaprizov 11 seconds into a power play.
"They're a good team over there," Sabres forward Kyle Okposo said. "They take a lot of pride defensively. We put up a six spot on them last game (6-5 overtime win on Jan. 7), so we knew that they were going to really buckle down defensively."

Girgensons gave Buffalo a 2-1 lead at 9:50 of the second period. Peyton Krebs won a battle behind the net and got the puck out to Okposo, who pulled Fleury out of position before sending a backdoor pass to Girgensons.
"It was great," Girgensons said. "Started with 'Krebsy' making a simple play and outworking two guys and getting it to [Okposo], and an unbelievable play by [Okposo]."
Spurgeon tied it 2-2 at 12:39, one-timing a pass across the slot from Frederick Gaudreau for his fourth goal in six games.
"I didn't have to do too much, just direct it in," Spurgeon said. "[Gaudreau's] been playing great, does so many good things away from the puck as well. He's such an underrated player and a big reason why we won."

NOTES: Buffalo was without forward Dylan Cozens and defenseman Mattias Samuelsson. Cozens left in the third period of a 3-2 win at the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. Samuelsson missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury. … Sabres defenseman Owen Power had a three-game goal streak end. … Kaprizov extended his point streak to five games (two goals, five assists). … Spurgeon has 369 points in the NHL, tying Ryan Suter for fourth in Wild history, behind Mikko Koivu (709), Marian Gaborik (437) and Zach Parise (400). … Sabres forwards Tage Thompson and Jeff Skinner each had his six-game point streak end, and Alex Tuch had his seven-game point streak end. … Minnesota has won three consecutive home games and is 13-3-0 in its past 16 games at Xcel Energy Center.